During the recent drought, we saw those in metropolitan areas actively looking to support rural and regional areas in so many different ways. Programs like 'Buy from the Bush' and others were not government initiatives, these were everyday people in metropolitan areas, looking to help out their fellow Australians through their actions in our time of need.

We saw similar generosity during the bushfires and in January 2020, I personally saw truckloads of supplies and food being donated and distributed by the team from AusRelief, a charitable organisation from Bankstown at a free community barbecue they hosted in Tumut, just after the bushfires tore through the Snowy Valleys region. This South Western Sydney community, largely made up of Muslim volunteers, came and supported the residents in my community, not because we asked, rather because of their willingness to help us. Ironically, this is the very same community we are looking to help now.

Those students who face doing their HSCs in COVID hotspots were already dealing with a disrupted Year 11 and now this disrupted Year 12. They do so, knowing the delta strain of COVID is more virulent amongst a younger populous. For many, their HSC results are a ticket to their future. So much of our later lives is tied to the success we have during these exams and in a normal year that pressure is already overwhelming, let alone now. Our rural and regional students will sit their exams in a relatively normal way, without the additional pressure these students face. As much as is possible, I believe those Year 12 students deserve the same.

By providing the Pfizer vaccine to these students, we will be able to provide the shortened timeframe to fully vaccinate them before they sit their trials and exams. It will provide not only relief for them, with one less worry before their upcoming exams, but also provides us more certainty about reducing the transmission risk posed by a large numbers of students congregating together for exams. This in turn undoubtedly helps protect us in regional NSW.

Last week, I was fortunate enough to attend a wreath laying ceremony, marking the 67th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice. We heard about young Australians going off to fight in the forgotten war, some of whom did not return. I was also fortunate to speak with veterans afterwards. They spoke not of city versus country, nor state versus state. They spoke of the spirit with which they departed to a foreign land and a war which was not theirs to defend an ideal and their country. Politicians use the word 'unAustralian' all too often, so I will avoid this obvious description, but instead pose the question; 'What would those who gave their life in conflict for their fellow Australian make of this debate?'.

Almost immediately after the announcement, those who thrive on dividing the community and peddling a narrative of fear and negativity, began their campaign of 'the bush is missing out' and 'they are taking our vaccines' and 'they wouldn't do this for us'. Their political opportunism ignored the facts that we are largely COVID free in rural and regional areas, this is a temporary measure to ensure we are able to have this Year 12 cohort vaccinated in time to return. Crucially and most disappointingly, it ignores the constant support those in the city offer to us in the bush when we are in need. It plays on themes of class warfare, us against them and we're missing out, at the very time when we should be coming together to help one another. I will however, use the term 'political-bastardry', as without doubt fuelling fear in a time of crisis for your own gain is the worst type of political behaviour I can think of.

It's all too easy to push a narrative of the Bush missing out. I know, having grown up in the regions, there's a sense we do and it's why when governments have to make tough decisions, the attacks come thick and fast. The decision to vaccinate Year 12 students from COVID hotspots was never about stripping supplies from regional NSW, but supporting those in need at a time when they need it, not because they asked, but because it is right. In future, I hope one day, those who have driven a campaign of fear and division have their children or grandchildren taught by a teacher, supported by a lawyer, or perhaps even treated by a doctor who was once one of the cohort of the vaccinated Year 12 students of 2021.

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