The election result in NSW makes it very clear that a state government with a strong focus on building new infrastructure, which says clearly how they will afford those projects, can earn the support of the people. The results speak for themselves.
Mike Baird and his Treasurer Andrew Constance called out the misleading spin of their opponents and won. Their members across Sydney and the state did the same, and in places like Oatley (Mark Coure) and Monaro (John Barilaro) the local members delivered their seats strongly back to Mike Baird with swings against Labor, so that he continues as Premier.
In tougher areas the Coalition lost some bark, and notably some good local members. It seems two factors were at play – difficult local issues such as CSG extraction in north coast seats, and in part seats wrested from Labor in the 2011 landslide, such as Campbelltown and Granville, returning to them. In other electorates where candidates retired or otherwise did not recontest, Labor has also gained from those changes. The effect of losing longstanding local members cannot be discounted. Even the decision to parachute Luke Foley into Auburn saw the seat receive a small swing to the Liberals.
The Opposition Leader spent large amounts of time campaigning on the North Coast, with the net result likely to be two seats gift-wrapped by Labor for the Greens.
Labor also lost some of its precious little experience with the defeat of former upper house member and Shadow Transport Minister Penny Sharpe to the Greens' Jenny Leong in Newtown. Labor's focus on the regions over Sydney for much of the campaign was a win-win for the Greens.
An overwhelmingly positive campaign from Premier Baird and his local candidates also reinforced a good, strong message to the people of NSW. When I watched the community respond to that daily, from electorates like Parramatta in western Sydney to Coogee in the eastern suburbs, it did invigorate the campaign and again, the results for Geoff Lee and Bruce Notley-Smith speak for themselves.
Importantly, and the final figures will tell more, campaigns also observed a very strong flow of pre-poll votes in the last week, and early postal votes will be added to the tally of the growing number of electors who now choose not to attend a polling booth on election day. The online option in this campaign gave those voters an additional choice. This was certainly the case in Penrith and adjacent seats in western Sydney as pre-poll queues grew daily.
This trend shifts the pace of a campaign. No longer can major announcements be held until the final weeks, let alone days, as increasing numbers of people have already cast their votes.
Early voting has federal implications also, especially for Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, where a quarter of the way through Labor's self proclaimed 'year of ideas' voters are still none the wiser as to what they stand for.
It was also a campaign that was fought almost entirely on Premier Mike Baird's terms from start to finish. The argument around the leasing of electricity and how governments fund major infrastructure projects was one the NSW Government was itching to have. Labor took the bait, played to the lowest common denominator, and lost the argument convincingly. Credit must go to the Premier and Treasurer Andrew Constance for their great job countering Labor and the unions' dishonest scare campaign at every turn.
Premier Mike Baird, Deputy Premier Troy Grant and Treasurer Andrew Constance have a strong mandate for their agenda. They are expected to deliver big, and be open and engaged with the NSW community. The election campaign and result gives the best possible indication that the community will not be disappointed.
Marise Payne is a Federal Liberal senator for NSW
