Roy Butler was popularly returned as the Member for Barwon at Saturday’s State Election winning close to half of the primary vote and making history as the first Independent to hold the seat.
“The numbers show that it was not a close race,” Mr Butler said of the election count on Monday.
“At midday today I was on 46.41 percent primary vote, and 63.47 percent two party preferred. The voters have said that they do not want a major party.”
Mr Butler said the results clearly showed Barwon voters wanted to keep the seat out of the hands of the National Party, who had poured a lot of resources and time into trying to win the seat back. (The Nationals candidate, Annette Turner, only secured 23.48 percent of the primary vote.)
“I believe that they [voters] have seen how effective it is to have a member of the crossbench in a tight parliament standing up for regional NSW,” he said.
“Over the last four years I have been able to shine light on the problems and needs of the people in regional, rural and remote NSW, which has resulted in record funding flowing into Barwon.”
Mr Butler was pleased the Barwon voters had trusted him to again represent them.
“The slim majority held by the new Labor government means we have the opportunity to keep that going and to build on the successes of my first term.
“Much of that success comes from the great team I have been fortunate enough to assemble in my electoral offices in Broken Hill, Narrabri and Cobar.
“We have all worked hard over the last four years to listen to constituents and to follow up on their concerns,” Mr Butler said.
Cobar voters returned similar results in the overall count in the electorate with Mr Butler receiving 41 per cent of Cobar voters primary vote with Mrs Turner earning 26 per cent.
The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party candidate, Paul Britton, received 11 per cent of Cobar’s primary vote (in comparison to 6.57 per cent across the electorate) and Labor candidate Joshua Roberts-Garnsey polled seven per cent in Cobar compared to 15.98 per cent across the electorate.
The Legalise Cannabis Party candidate, Ben Hartley, secured 5th spot with Cobar voters and also 5th spot across the electorate.
