Congratulations to Mike Baird and the NSW Liberals and Nationals teams on their election victory.
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The majority of NSW voters have expressed confidence in the way you are running the state and the direction you plan to take it.
But the clear message from the Hunter is that it feels let down on issues specific to the region and that the re-elected Coalition government needs to heed the concerns on various issues raised in protests and now at the ballot box.
Much was made in election coverage last night of the partial privatisation of the state’s electricity poles and wires, but the size of the swing to Labor in the Hunter seats was far beyond that and reflects a deep-seated dissatisfaction with the way the government has conducted business in the region.
The truncation of the Newcastle railway was always going to divide the community.
But when combined with ICAC revelations, which claimed the scalps of several Hunter Liberal MPs, the two became inextricably linked.
They became a synonym for the politics of greed and self-interest. It created fertile ground for distrust of any moves towards privatisation.
The clear message from the Hunter is that voters want issues such as the railway truncation to be halted and only revisited if the tarnish of possible corruption is completely removed.
The Coalition government can re-establish trust with the Hunter by delivering on its promises made during the election campaign in electorates such as Maitland.
This Mercury will regularly revisit those promises in the interest of its readers over the next four years and fairly report on the government’s delivery or failure to deliver them.
