![Former regional health minister Bronnie Taylor is taking the position up again in the shadow ministry. Picture from file Former regional health minister Bronnie Taylor is taking the position up again in the shadow ministry. Picture from file](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/JV4n4a6iwKJ9DNUAb9ehsn/2487aea2-72ad-4d29-a69d-85366ef862d3.jpg/r0_91_4552_2650_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
FORMER regional health minister Bronnie Taylor will resume the position in the shadow ministry.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Ms Taylor told ACM her focus as a Nationals MP is on the regions.
"I think in opposition, you need to do absolutely what you're focused on and what your priorities are, and as Nationals, our priorities are rural and regional communities," she said.
READ ALSO:
"For me to have regional health is great, I've actually done the position, I know how big it is, and I know how much attention it needs."
While having the positions separated "at this crucial point in time" is important, she said, she looks forward to working with Mr Park.
Ms Taylor, deputy leader of the NSW Nationals, gave the new state government credit for keeping the regional health ministry.
"That was something that country mayors really fought very hard for, they made a very strong stand that it needed to be its own portfolio," she said.
"I really commend Labor for listening and doing that. I think that's a really good start."
When Ms Taylor was in government, questions were raised in early March about a delay between layers of government surrounding the roll out of the single employer model across New England.
Federal health minister Mark Butler said he had received NSW's expression of interest that month.
Ms Taylor said she was "well advanced" with everything that was needed to do.
"The division of regional health put an enormous amount of work into saying that NSW was ready to accept the single employer model right across the state," she said.
"NSW is ready to go. The work has been done. I did it in good faith, it still hasn't happened. I look forward to it happening and I will support it fully."
The model is not the entire fix, she said, but trying a myriad of options will make the difference.
"If there was one size fits all to fix the GP issues in NSW, someone would have done it regardless of their political colours," she said.
"We'll have our first week of Parliament next week, and we'll have plenty of questions to ask."
She will subsume the shadow ministry for trade and seniors and continue her role as deputy leader of the NSW Nationals.
Along with the former health minister Brad Hazzard, Ms Taylor lost her portfolio following the March 25 election.
Instead of appointing a different minister for each branch, Labor minister for Keira, Ryan Park, has subsumed both health and regional health.
However, the coalition has chosen to keep a different minister for each portfolio, with Liberals Matt Kean taking up the shadow ministry for health.
Make sure you are signed up for our breaking news and regular newsletters