THE electorate of Tamworth has bucked a statewide lean away from the Coalition, returning sitting member Kevin Anderson with an increased margin.
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From initial figures, Mr Anderson is the only Nationals candidate to have widened the distance between himself and his closest competitor.
Following Saturday’s election, Mr Anderson had secured 61.18 per cent of the two-candidate preferred vote, 22.36 per cent ahead of independent Peter Draper.
There was a 4.4 per cent swing to the Nationals in Tamworth.
Of the 93 Legislative Assembly seats, 82 showed a swing to the Australian Labor Party. Tamworth was the only seat with a swing to the Nationals.
The Coalition will retain power in NSW, with Premier Mike Baird still at the helm.
"I never went into this campaign thinking I was going to win"
- independent candidate Peter Draper
Postal votes have not been finalised and counted, but Mr Draper conceded defeat at 8.30pm on Saturday.
Mr Draper said on Saturday he was glad he had thrown his hat in the ring because it had refocused The Nationals’ attention on the area and issues impacting constituents, particularly concerns related to coal mining and coal seam gas. He ruled out another tilt at the seat in four years’ time.
In the primary vote, Mr Anderson picked up 54.76 per cent, followed by Mr Draper on 34.1 per cent.
It was a long way from the two clear leaders to the next candidate, Country Labor’s Joe Hillard on 5.91 per cent, followed by the Greens’ Pat Schultz on 2.31 per cent, the Christian Democratic Party’s Michelle Ryan on 1.42 per cent, independent Stan Heuston on 0.78 per cent, and the No Land Tax candidate Richard Nock on 0.72 per cent.
In Gunnedah, Mr Anderson won more than 65 per cent of the primary vote at both the Gunnedah Town Hall and Gunnedah South Public School polling booths.
Perhaps more surprising in an election where coal seam gas and coal mining – in particular the Shenhua Watermark coal mine near Breeza – have been in the national eye, booths at Curlewis, Mullaley and Tambar Springs all clocked up more than 50 per cent support for the Nationals candidate.
This was despite a concerted anti-mine campaign by both Greens candidate Pat Schultz and independent Peter Draper.
“Naturally, I was disappointed,” Mr Draper said.
“But I never went into this campaign thinking I was going to win.
“I went in thinking Kevin needed the competition. If I hadn’t run, we wouldn’t have seen the Deputy Premier and the ministers here.”
He said if he hadn’t campaigned, Gunnedah would have missed out on the police station and hospital upgrades promised by the Nationals.
But Mr Draper said he was disappointed in the amounts likely to be spent on both projects and called for a police station built on a new site.
“This will only put a bandaid on a serious problem,” he said. “Gunnedah deserves a lot better than that.”
He also said more than $2 million was needed for a hospital upgrade.
Mr Draper put Mr Anderson’s success down to the amount of money that had been spent on the campaign, saying no one could compete with the high profile advertising and mail-outs.
Mr Anderson said yesterday he particularly wanted to thank Gunnedah people.
“I want to thank the Gunnedah community for having faith in me to be able to go on and represent them at the table of government,” he said.
“I have spoken to Premier Mike Baird and to [Deputy Premier] Troy Grant and they have said this is fantastic.
“I think I was the only National to have a swing to me.
“I am genuinely excited for what’s on the horizon for Gunnedah – the hospital upgrade, the police station upgrade and the Gunnedah overpass.
“And we have put Gunnedah in the Resources for Regions box.”
The campaign has been fraught with tension, with anti-mining emotions running high at both the Breeza Meet the Candidates event and a recent rally in Gunnedah.
In the final days last week, Mr Draper described the National Party’s campaign in Tamworth as “the most despicable example of gutter politics and trying to buy votes that I have ever seen”.
“Their lies and distortions have offended many local people, and it shows exactly how desperate they are to retain what they see as their birthright – being the electorate of Tamworth.”
Mr Draper also took to Twitter, tweeting with a photo on March 25: “12 Nats in yellow shirts behind a poster of Kevin Anderson looking like he is about to vomit on M Baird.”
Gunnedah Shire mayor Owen Hasler said Mr Anderson’s win had come despite a “strong campaign by his opponents, in particular Peter Draper”.
“It was a very resounding victory for him,” Cr Hasler said.
“It was a reasonably torrid campaign and there were quite clearly emotive issues.”
He said he believed the result would “appear to be very positive for Gunnedah”, with the government already committed to projects including the police station upgrade, hospital upgrade, second rail overpass and extension of the Resources for Regions grants.