NEWLY-elected member for North West Central Merome Beard reflected on her pathway from outback regional Western Australia to State politician when she was officially sworn into State Parliament last week.
The Nationals WA member replaced Vince Catania, also from the Nationals, who resigned earlier this year to spend more time with his family.
As a proud fourth-generation local, Ms Beard was raised on a pastoral station and completed seven years of primary education through School of the Air (SOTA).
Ms Beard said this experience made her a strong advocate for saving SOTA, as well as a supporter of the Isolated Children's Parents' Association (ICPA), with her mother a founding member of the Ashburton branch.
Due to her family's remote location, she completed her secondary schooling as a boarder in Perth, about 1200 kilometres away.
After studying and working in various roles in Perth and Sydney in the finance industry, Ms Beard and her husband, Tony, returned to Carnarvon in 2003 and developed the town's Port Hotel, which they still own and operate today.
Having worked with local government and community groups as a business adviser for the Small Business Development Corporation and as an electoral officer, Ms Beard said the breadth and depth of her experiences over the past 20 years would greatly assist her in representing the local community and "shining a light on the regions".
Having received feedback from locals on the campaign trail, Ms Beard said it was evident that some people felt forgotten about and at times penalised for living in the regions.
"Most people in the bush do not expect freeways and underground railways, but given the immense wealth that is generated in the regions and the $6 billion surplus, they do expect their fair share," Ms Beard said in her parliamentary address.
"They need a leg up when it comes to the basic infrastructure and services that are needed so that we can take the next step in growing and developing the regions and attracting people to build a life there."
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She said a lack of housing, including workers' accommodation and worker shortages in the region had forced some locals to relocate and that those challenges would again be highlighted by the solar eclipse in April 2023, which is expected to draw thousands of visitors to the region.
Ms Beard said innovative ways were needed to attract essential workers to the region, including nurses, teachers and police.
"Regional health services are in urgent need of attention...many women cannot have their baby in a hospital in a regional centre due to a lack of obstetric and specialist services," she said.
"We still need nurses, despite the resourcing issues we have for posts such as Yalgoo and Cue.
"Denham has no resident doctor, but the population can swell from about 700 residents to 7000, leaving locals waiting weeks for an appointment.
"Renal dialysis services are urgently required across the regions, with people relocating off-country to Perth and waiting for services to become available."
A permanent fix for the fascine in Carnarvon to help reignite the local tourism industry, the sealing of a 144km section Wiluna-Meekatharra Road, as well as addressing the underlying issues of high crime rates in the towns of Carnarvon, Meekatharra and Mt Magnet were also listed by Ms Beard as issues that required the State government's urgent attention.
In her first time addressing parliament, Ms Beard also took the opportunity to pay tribute to Mr Catania.
"He was a dedicated, committed and hardworking representative who served the people for nearly two decades," Ms Beard said.
"He always put his electorate and the people first - thank you to Dani and family for sharing - never shying away from a challenge and standing up and fighting tirelessly to make the regions a better place to live, work and invest."
Spanning about 820,000 square kilometres, the North West Central electorate is the biggest in Australia and includes 17 towns.
Ms Beard comfortably won the by-election last month, securing 60.46 per cent of the two-candidate preferred vote over Liberal candidate Will Baston who had 39.54pc.
The Nationals WA and Opposition leader Mia Davies said Ms Beard would be a fierce advocate for the region, having a strong background in small business and tourism.
Ms Bear has been appointed as The Nationals WA spokeswoman for tourism, commerce and women's interests.
