With Kevin Humphries retiring, the opportunity was there for a minor party to win over the people ahead of Nationals candidate Andrew Schier, and that's exactly what Mr Butler did - on the back of making some significant claims.

He revealed it was his intention to get the government to put an immediate five year halt to payroll tax and commercial stamp duty for regional businesses to help them get through the drought.

Addressing the water shortage was another one of his major talking points, while improving regional health and increasing the amount of jobs and investment were also among his focuses.

So, with Tuesday this week marking two years since that election, the Namoi Valley Independent has had a look at whether he has been able to achieve any of these tasks.

The major theme of Mr Butler's time in office so far has been applying pressure, given introducing successful legislation is difficult as a minor party.

On the water front, he has been pushing for change on the Murray Darling Basin Plan, and even entered a verbal showdown with the premier on the matter during legislative assembly last year.

Ultimately, any significant difference to a plan that size would require a united front from a number of states, which has been a stretch too far for Mr Butler.

However, he has been able to have a say on some legislation and water policies in the state, which he said have lead to more water being in the rivers and the greater protection of water.

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Of course, the drought breaking across much of the state has also had a major say on the lessening of the water emergency.

One of Mr Butler's biggest successes was helping push for the Regional Health Inquiry alongside Labor and the crossbench, which he believes has already delivered some good outcomes.

"We're seeing now issues that have been known for years come out in the Regional Health Inquiry... that haven't just cropped up overnight, they've been known about for years by the community and by the government," he said.

"But the government has actively done nothing about trying to fix these problems - and that's across the board not just in health."

Another issue he fought hard on, but on this occasion had little success with, was suspending the Narrabri Gas Project (NGP).

The former law enforcement professional was extremely clear in his rhetoric post-election that he wanted to fight against coal seam gas projects, such as the $3.5 billion Santos venture.

As a result, he threw his support behind a private member's bill by Labor's Adam Searle, which proposed a moratorium on all coal seam gas projects.

The bill passed the NSW upper house in June 2020 with support from Labor, the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, the Greens and the Animal Justice Party, but was narrowly shot down 38-36 in the lower house.

The NGP was eventually given the tick of approval in November last year.

In terms of the promises he made around payroll tax and and stamp duty, they were always ambitious, but he is still pleased the situation has - in his opinion - got better and not worse.

"When it comes to payroll tax, in the NSW Budget 2020-21 the payroll tax rate was lowered from 5.45 per cent to 4.85 per cent - a significant change that will put money back into the pockets of business holders," he stated.

"The payroll tax threshold has also been increased from $1.2 million.

"The discussions that the treasurer and other members of government are having regarding payroll tax and stamp duty are positive indicators that long term change in this area."

Given Mr Butler is part of a minority party, executing substantial change was always going to be difficult, so whether members of the electorate give him a tick or a cross may come down to how hard they feel he has fought for their issues.

He is hoping the community is happy with the work he has done so far, and wants to work more closely with the Coalition for the rest of his term.

"Despite what my opponents would have people believe working with genuine members of the government has been productive for the Barwon electorate," he stated.

"I have been able to achieve real change and get the government to address problems that are unique to Barwon.

"At the end of the day politicking belongs at election times, the genuine members of government understand that and will work with me when it comes to serious issues that require the attention of the government. "

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