RE-ELECTED Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall has thanked all the candidates who ran against him in Saturday’s battle for the seat of Northern Tablelands.
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“I want to thank them quite publically for that because it was a very positive campaign up here, which is how election campaigns should be, but sadly, rarely are,” Mr Marshall said
“All the candidates worked incredibly hard. It was such a pleasant and enjoyable campaign, it was fantastic,” Mr Marshall said.
“And it was great to get to know them all and travel around the region talking, and learning that we had a lot more in common in terms of our views and solutions to issues than everyone first thought.”
He said he was not expecting a swing to the National party in primary vote, which seemed to be the case as counting continued on Thursday afternoon.
“It’s about a three per cent swing, which is incredible I thought, given the change of boundaries and a lot of other factors,” Mr Marshall said.
“I was anticipating a result that was beneath where the number sat at the by-election, but it seems at this stage that’s not the case.
“I’m humbled and very grateful to all the communities right across the Northern Tablelands for their trust and the support they’ve put in me for the next four years.”
Mr Marshall said he would keep working hard and assured his constituents that he would not let them down during the next four years.
Labor candidate Debra O’Brien congratulated Mr Marshall and said he ran a fantastic campaign.
“He’s clearly a formidable opponent. He’s a very good politician and the people have spoken,” Ms O’Brien said.
“But we’ll be around to make sure he keeps up the good work during the next few years, and we’ll be back again in four years time.”
Ms O’Brien said she was particularly impressed with Mr Marshall’s campaign.
“I didn’t see him make a slip at all. I think he’s a great communicator and a hard worker and the National Party brand is very strong out here.
“But we ended up with about 25 per cent two party preferred, which is not too bad. It’s probably the best Labor’s done for a while, and we’re going to build on that.”
Ms O’Brien said the Labor camp was far from miserable.
“We had a great party night,” she said.
“I think we had a swing to us, I haven’t looked today because I’ve got to do all the family things I haven’t done for six months.
“It is hard to get the right figures, because some are comparing it to the by-election and some are comparing it to the last election, so it depends what you compare it to, but yeah, we had a swing.”
Labor did not invest near as much on its campaign for Northern Tablelands as the Coalition, and Ms O’Brien said funds were only adequate for letterbox drops and signs.
“We were very, very much out-resourced, there’s no doubt about that. We just didn’t have the money to pay for the advertising and all that,” Ms O’Brien said.
Country Party of Australia endorsed independent candidate, David Mailler also congratulated Mr Marshall.
Mr Mailler said the Nationals had run a very effective campaign across the region.
“It was a well timed campaign of announcements on electorate issues that seemed to work well for the Members of Northern Tablelands, Tamworth and Barwon,” Mr Mailler said.
Greens candidate Mercurius Goldstein said he rang Adam Marshall on Saturday night to congratulate him on his victory and to wish him well in this term of government.
“Greens will be watching to ensure Mr Marshall keeps his promises to protect our farms from CSG and to support local jobs in renewable energy,” Mr Goldstein said.
"Greens also hope Mr Marshall can persuade his colleagues in the Coalition to review the NSW government’s high-fees regime for TAFE. Fees must be kept at or below 2014 levels if TAFE is to survive in its present form,” Mr Goldstein said.
“Greens in Northern Tablelands achieved their best-ever result on polling day booths, with a jump to 7.5 per cent from the previous result of only 4.3 per cent.
“The Greens strong showing was helped by a lift in the Armidale vote to 13.1 per cent from 8.5 per cent. Nearly one-in-seven Armidale voters now support the Greens.”
Mr Mailler said it was a sign of the times that country voters were being forced further to the left in their search for effective advocacy, something that was about to change when the Country Party of Australia became established.
“The weekend’s result was interesting because it demonstrated that the Nationals are on notice to deliver for regional constituents. The Country Party of Australia will be there at the next election, ready when the Nationals stumble on regional issues and advocacy” Mr Mailler said.
“The Nationals lack lustre performance during the past four years of the last coalition government was why two (coastal) seats were lost, despite the Coalition splash of election promises worth tens millions of dollars for hospitals and road infrastructure, and the last minute promise to repeal native vegetation regulation.”
Mr Mailler said he felt as though he had “rattled the Nationals cage” and thought this regions Members should be aware that voters will be judging their usefulness throughout the next four years.