This week it was all about the May 22 by-election for the NSW seat of Upper Hunter.

With so much at stake for the two major political parties, as the Coalition needs to hold the seat to maintain their majority in the lower house, and Labor keen to take that majority away, our town has become the epicentre for a political battle of epic proportions.

There is no doubt a myriad of promises will be made in the hope that all political parties they will sway the undecided voter.

But actions speak louder than words and we can all recall past promises that disappear once the vote is counted.

The Singleton Argus fully supports the list Mayor Sue Moore has released as part of Singleton Council's advocacy agenda.

The list includes the redesign of the bypass to include a proper interchange and dual carriageways. Build it once build it properly. We need a new police station and we need it now.

More funding for health services in Singleton and a greater share of the funding from the Resources for Regions Program.

For issues across the region we need to see better support for vocational training - not selling off TAFE sites as we have seen in Scone. Make them stronger and more accessible.

Better train services and more affordable housing.

And the one issue that affects the entire region is what impacts will reaching net zero emissions by 2050, not only in NSW, but across the nation and the world have on our mining economy.

Its long past time for politicians to ignore this fact and simply say they support coal mining. We don't doubt their commitment to the industry, we are doubting their commitment to meeting a net zero target without developing new job creation polices.

The centrepiece of any candidate's campaign should be this issue - working on the future of our region that is based on the 2050 target.

Ask the farmers do they want temperatures to keep rising and natural disasters to get worse. No they don't.

So please could the candidates honestly answer this question.