INDEPENDENT Helen Dalton is projected to retain the seat of Murray with a sizeable swing towards her, as Labor is swept to power in NSW.
The incumbent Mrs Dalton was returned to parliament by voters over nine other candidates, including Edward River mayor and Nationals candidate Peta Betts.
As of Saturday night, 48.3 per cent of the vote in Murray had been counted and Mrs Dalton had a 12.6 per cent swing in her favour.
The only counted booth where The Nationals received more votes than Mrs Dalton was Euston Public School.
Mrs Dalton said her team had difficulty manning that booth on election day and her stance on poker machine reform had irritated ClubsNSW.
“I think ClubsNSW may have convinced those people (in Euston) that I’m the baddie, but they haven’t convinced anyone else,” she said.
If the voting trend continued, Murray would no longer be marginal.
Mrs Dalton said she’s been working hard to keep the electorate’s needs squarely on the government’s mind.
“I have been speaking to the Coalition and Labor over the last 12 months asking for certain things,” she said.
“We’ve already secured a number of things just in the last couple of weeks, obviously pending on the outcome of the election.”
Mrs Dalton said Labor committed $2 million to complete a study into motor neurone disease in the Riverina, where Macquarie University will look at what impact water quality has on people’s health.
She said Labor also committed to de-merge two high schools in Griffith and assess the structure of the Murrumbidgee and Far West local health districts.
“They are far too big, so there’s a special inquiry into the structure of all of that,” she said.
“We’ve secured assurance that would be done – and I’m really wanting a pilot scheme where we go back to our own hospital boards with our own hospital budgets.”
Mrs Dalton said the biggest focus for the west of the electorate over the next four years will be ongoing discussions about water quality and floodplain harvesting.
“I think we need to do a lot of talking federally and to state water ministers about how they’ve done water management for political purposes, and not for communities and the environment,” Mrs Dalton said.
“We’re tired of all of that, and our rivers are.
“With this current fish kill, it is catastrophic with what has happened and something has got to change with the management of the rivers.”
Labor will form government after 12 years in Opposition and leader Chris Minns said he was eager to provide the state with “a fresh start”.
“The people of NSW voted to put in a government that would put people at the heart of all decision making, and we will not let them down,” Mr Minns said.
The Coalition is projected to lose at least seven of its seats and former premier Dom Perrottet stood aside as the party leader on Saturday night.
Labor is now in government in every mainland state and territory in Australia.
Vote counting resumed today.
