UPPER Hunter has been retained by The Nationals with Michael Johnsen our new state government representative.
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However, it was no walk-in for the Upper Hunter Shire’s current mayor with Mr Johnsen’s margin after preferences reduced to a mere 1.4 per cent.
The swing to Country Labor’s Martin Rush of more than 20 per cent was the biggest the party received in the state election.
Independent Lee Watts gained 19 per cent of the first preference vote, claiming third place ahead of the Green’s John Kaye with 5 per cent.
The seat of Upper Hunter has always been held by the Country/National Party.
Some of the swing against The Nationals can be attributed to the retirement of long-serving member George Souris, who held the seat for 27 years.
At the 2011 election, Mr Souris won the seat with a very safe margin of 23 per cent.
Other factors came into play in the 2015 result, especially the privatisation of the state’s electricity assets given the fact that the electorate is home to two large power generators Bayswater and Liddell.
Planning laws and coal seam gas no doubt also were two big issues for voters in an electorate that covers an area from Quirindi in the west and Gloucester in the east.
In what was described as a battle of “mayors” as Johnsen and Rush (Muswellbrook) are serving mayors and Watts was a former mayor of the Upper Hunter Shire.
All three candidates campaigned on local issues but the two major parties promised more than half a billion dollars in infrastructure spending for the electorate including an upgrade to Singleton Hospital and the start to the Singleton Bypass.
Commenting on the campaign and the close vote, Mr Johnsen said it was one tough campaign especially during the last couple of weeks once pre-polling opened.
“I want to congratulate Martin Rush, he is one of the best Labor candidates ever to contest the seat of Upper Hunter,” he said.
“It is a great honour and privilege to be elected and represent this wonderful electorate.
“I can assure all the voters, no matter who they voted for, that I will be their member and represent their best interests in parliament.
“As the new member I have a great desire to reunite the community, especially in the area of landuse conflicts – my number one aim is no more industry versus industry rather everyone working for the good of the entire community.”
Speaking on the list of National party commitments for the district during the campaign, Mr Johnsen said the $7 million for the Singleton Hospital upgrade was already in the bank and ready to go.
The money comes from the Hunter Investment and Infrastructure Fund and is available now, he said.
“We are absolutely humbled by the size of the swing to Country Labor – particularly in areas where voters have rarely if ever voted Labor before,” Mr Rush said.
“Our volunteers were passionate and committed right to the end and I want to thank each and everyone one of them for their tireless support.
“The policies we took to the electorate were the best we could take. The seat now sits on a knife edge margin.”
An exhausted Lee Watts said she was thrilled by what she had achieved.
“I went into this campaign at the behest of the community because this electorate has been taken for granted too long,” she said.
“Hopefully, now it’s a marginal seat some of the major issues facing the electorate will be taken seriously.”