Mark Coulton is striding the halls of Parliament House once again after being sworn in as Member for Parkes for the fifth time on Tuesday.
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Mr Coulton is now juggling his MP position with his new role as Minister for Regional Services, Decentralisation and Local Government, and existing role as Assistant Trade and Investment Minister.
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When the NVI spoke to Mr Coulton on Wednesday, he said it was a "quieter day" in the cabinet as members of parliament marked the passing of former prime minister Bob Hawke who died in mid-May.
"The death of a prime minister is marked in a very respectful way in parliament so the only business we're dealing with today is the death of Bob Hawke," Mr Coulton said.
"We're back to business tomorrow."
The MP said he was "very pleased" to be back on deck, saying it was also the first day "on the job" for Governor-General David Hurley who was sworn in on Monday.
Mr Coulton has already voted on tax cuts and "after more than 11 years in this job, I'm as excited and optimistic as ever about what lies ahead for this electorate".
"I've been given responsibility for regional telecommunications, health, local government, decentralisation and also trade so my focus will be getting across this portfolio because all of those things are pertinent to my entire electorate.
"[I want] to make sure while I'm in this position I can make some positive impacts ... I think that we can achieve a lot in this space in the next term of government."
Mr Coulton will hit the road in just weeks to visit Dubbo and attend the regional Australia forum, then he's "catching up on a lot of meetings with people who have been wanting to talk to me since before the election".
"I'm in discussion with the council [and] I'm hoping to address a joint council meeting in the next month or two and keep abreast of what their aspirations are and doing what I can in my position to help them," he said.
"The biggest issue that we're grappling with at the moment is the drought ... Sadly, [it] is overarching everything else we do and we're making sure we're keeping up with policies that are a benefit."
The MP said a decision was yet to be made about more funding for the Drought Communities Program, which has had a "two-fold effect" or assisting trades and businesses, plus providing "a shot in the arm for those communities".