"Around the Snowy Valleys, obviously internet and mobile connectivity is a huge issue, as is local roads and bushfire recovery and how we are going to get business and industry through the next little period following on from the bushfires and COVID-19," she said.

"Making sure we have good full-time local jobs still in the regional area is going to be a key priority for me."

Ms McBain told The Daily Advertiser that it was hard to have businesses survive in an area or attract new businesses when there was "not great internet connectivity".

"We have also got far too many mobile phone black spots right across Eden-Monaro and we know there are a lot in the Snowy Valleys area," she said.

"We want to make sure that targeted infrastructure coming out of the bushfire and COVID-19 periods actually assist regional areas to grow.

"What we are seeing is regional areas being left behind by the current government."

The byelection was triggered in late April by federal Labor MP Mike Kelly announcing he would resign for health reasons, with Snowy Valleys voters heading back to the polls on July 4.

Nomination for candidates will close on June 9 at midday.

Ms McBain said a lot of people had missed out on the 'JobKeeper' $1500 per fortnight wage subsidy as "we have a very casualised and seasonal workforce in some areas of Eden Monaro".

"We know places like Tumut, Batlow and Tumbarumba are struggling significantly on the back of the bushfire season, with timber plantations, orchards and a number of farms being significantly hit," she said.

"We have spoken to orchardists at Batlow who have put together submissions to the federal government about what would be required to get back on their feet and that still hasn't been delivered.

"We have spoken to timber mills that have said they have significant problems delivering products.

"There has to be recognition that areas like the Snowy valleys have been significantly hit by bushfires and then COVID-19 and there has to be direct responses."

Ms McBain, aged 37, has served on the Bega Valley Shire Council since 2012, and was mayor from 2016 to 2020.

Her family moved to the Bega Valley in the 1990s and ran a small sporting store in Merimbula for more than 10 years.

She moved back to the South Coast after obtaining degrees in Law and Communications at the University of Canberra.

"I was the first in my family to go to university," Ms McBain said.

"I started my working career in a law firm in Canberra that had offices in Queanbeyan and Yass as well.

"I moved back to the coast to give my family the same upbringing that I had; I know how vitally important it is to make sure you have got good education opportunities and good healthcare in regional areas to get people back into the regions."

Ms McBain and her husband live in Tura Beach with their three children and together they run a plumbing business.

This week Ms McBain floated the idea that regional holiday spending should be tax deductible, arguing that it would be more effective than "simply throwing $70 million at an advertising campaign".

"When I way the mayor of Bega we floated some out-of-the-box ideas to try to stimulate tourism and visits to regional economies," she said.

"That is still one way that we can assist regional communities, especially given the proximity of Snowy Valleys to Canberra and larger centres around the Riverina.

"We know that road connectivity plays a huge part in the way people travel, we have seen the rail trail from Rosewood into Tumut really assist local people move around but it also brings in a whole heap of people from outside the community.

"It would be fantastic to see more of those projects, particularly targeted so that it will stimulate visitors to the area."

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Ms McBain said she "wanted to see politics done differently".

"I'm frustrated at the process too; regions like Eden-Monaro get left out or left behind or forgotten because your Member [of Parliament] is from a different team," she said.

"You have got to work with everyone and I have got a track record of doing that in the Bega Valley.

"You have to work with politicians from all sides, with governments at all levels, to make sure you are getting outcomes for your community."

The NSW state government is taking its fight for a public sector wage freeze to the Industrial Relations Commission after its legislation was reversed in the upper house this week.

Ms McBain said she opposed that policy, claiming it would damage regional economies.

"One of the other big issues is around the state pay freeze for public servants and health care," she said.

"We know in many of our areas, sometimes those jobs are the only full-time local jobs so we need to make sure there aren't going to be any cuts in the health care district as we cannot sustain any cuts to our health workforce."

Ms McBain said suggestions that she would be less able to help the electorate if she was voted in as an opposition MP were "part of the frustrating thing about politics".

"We are still in drought, we have had bushfires and now coronavirus," she said.

"We cannot have a government that will not deliver to some areas based on who their members are.

"It just seems ludicrous that we could have a government in power that effectively is trying to blackmail voters into voting a certain way.

"Mike Kelly delivered from opposition for this region and I want to continue his trait of being a really strong local voice and I'm concerned about delivering for Eden-Monaro and making their voices heard in Canberra; I'm not concerned about party politics."