"I am sick of the idea that people think that the areas outside of the capital cities are just places that you either go on holidays, or you expect will grow all the food for you".
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Sky News broadcaster, Paul Murray, is in Mudgee for the first stop of the Paul Murray Live Our Town tour.
Paul says he is passionate about giving a voice to regional Australia, and will be interviewing Mudgee locals and showcasing the town's best assets during Thursday's show.
Paul Murray said, "We want to celebrate the region, so yes you will see wine, yes you will see feta cheese, and it will be a celebration of some local artists, but most importantly I want to give the people of Mudgee a chance to say whatever they want about their region, their state, and their country".
Paul will meet with Mudgee residents and show why many city dwellers have elected to relocate to Mudgee in recent years.
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"People know it, and kind of take for granted how beautiful the region is, how talented some of the people are that are in it, but I am really excited about having a chance to show it off as if I was a local for one night, the whole point of these shows is to go 'mate how good is this joint', and I think the definition of that would be a place like Mudgee," said Paul.
"Too often the media will only turn up outside of a capital city if there's a natural disaster, a horrible crime story or some sort of economic devastation, good news doesn't seem to be as sexy or as interesting, so that's again part of why I am trying to come at a time when things are normal to show off how good normal is, as opposed to just only turning up when things are abnormal or particularly difficult," he said.
Paul will also hear from the local community and discover how the rest of Australia can get behind Mudgee to help local farmers, wine exporters and other businesses bounce back from COVID-19.
"You need politicians to visit the regions as much as possible, you need them to frankly humanise the issues, they need to be able to see that it's not just lobby groups and the local councils that have their hand out for more money, it's your fellow Australian who literally has an open field of opportunities and that all of those can be maximised, but I also think that you need an attitude from people in the city about what regions are," said Paul.
Paul will be broadcasting live from Mudgee Brewing Company.
"These things are always a bit of a mystery of what's going to happen on these shows because it's meant to be live TV that showcases a beautiful region, but also live TV where I don't know what someone is going to say, there might be some local issue about the public pool that I wasn't aware that was a firestorm we are walking into... so whatever they want to say they can say," said Paul.
To be part of the live audience on Thursday night email ourtown@skynews.com.au ahead of filming to reserve a seat.
