A dose of One Nation orange has been poured into formerly red territory - the seat of Hunter being the right wing party's best result across the entire country.

While Labor's Joel Fitzgibbon looks set to hold on to it, his huge 12 per cent margin has been eaten away to just 2.5 per cent with 75 per cent of the vote counted so far. What was once one of the safest Labor seats in Australia will now be considered marginal.

Mr Fitzgibbon's initial reasoning was that the electorate wasn't ready for Labor's progressive policies, saying there had been a "scare campaign" against climate change.

But from the comments we have read from everyday people - the voters - the problem is that they feel they've been ignored. Real or not, if they feel that way, it's a problem.

They're sick of living in a safe seat, one that the Coalition won't throw money at because they don't think it's winnable and one that Labor thought they could bank on without giving away too much.

Maybe that's why the people turned to a third option in One Nation. While not as big as Labor's drop, the Nationals also suffered a -2.5 per cent swing in their primary vote in the votes counted so far.

Even in Maitland's electorate of Paterson, Labor's Meryl Swanson has lost half her margin after receiving a huge swing towards her when she was elected just three years ago after a redistribution moved the seat to include Maitland and her home town of Kurri Kurri.

Surely this has to be a wake-up call to our politicians - at all levels of government. The Hunter region does not want to be ignored.

These Labor members will have an uphill battle against them now, having at least three more years in opposition.

If they hope to do better next time, they must listen to the people.

Mr Fitzgibbon defended himself, saying "no one works their electorate harder than I do" but conceded he had "heard the electorate's message".

"I've already responded by insisting my party also responds appropriately to the root causes of the protest vote," he said.

Either way, it should be good news for the region. It can only mean more money and much needed upgrades thrown at Paterson and Hunter in the future.