Rural seats will be crucial to the NSW election outcome, so why aren’t we hearing about them?

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet meets with volunteers at the Taralga District Rural Fire Brigade during the Liberal party election campaign on Tuesday. NSW will go to the polls on 25 March. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

It is passing strange that rural seats are likely to be crucial to the outcome of the New South Wales election, yet there has been little attention paid to what is happening west of Penrith.

There are three things that makes regional seats the wildcards at Saturday’s poll.