HIS challengers had hoped to knock him off his perch, but Daryl Maguire won a clear victory in Saturday’s election, with voters handing the veteran MP a fifth term in office.
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With most of the vote counted, Mr Maguire captured victory in all Wagga polling booths, sweeping past his chief rival, Labor’s Dan Hayes. He is set to claim 60 per cent of the vote on a two-party preferred basis.
Mr Maguire said the result had energised his resolve to see through several infrastructure commitments, namely the new Wagga Base Hospital.
“All of those things are vital to the future of this region and across regional NSW,” he said.
The Liberal’s key re-election plank was the long-term lease of 49 per cent of the state’s “poles and wires” electricity network.
Mr Maguire said the result was a mandate to push through with the policy, taking a swipe at Labor and the unions for a “deceitful” and “racist” campaign against the proposal.
He again assured voters that no job would be lost at the TransGrid Wagga depot due to privatisation.
“They’ve always been safe. This was all part of the misinformation campaign being run by the unions,” he said. “It’s never easy for people to understand the technicalities of the change we are proposing but it is designed to provide opportunity and development.”
The result was a stunning turnabout from an at times bruising campaign for Mr Maguire, including growing industrial action from local police over staffing numbers.
Other issues such as Wagga’s push for a prostate cancer nurse, the future of the hydrotherapy pool and calls for a drug squad were fought hard by his challengers.
Mr Maguire pledged to listen to the concerns.
“Each of those things I will look at and give consideration to what the candidates said,” he said.
“It is better to be in government than running up and down the sidelines.”
The Wagga MP said he was “fit and healthy” to carry out a fifth term and rattled off a wish list for the electorate including a new Tumut hospital, a school for Estella and a new Conservatorium of Music.
In his victory speech, which was met with cheer and applause from Liberal supporters, Mr Maguire talked mainly about infrastructure commitments.
“Barry O’Farrell led us out of the wilderness … and the future is bright under Mike Baird,” he said.
Pointing to vision of Premier Baird, Mr Maguire said: “This man has got it and will take this state forward like no one else.”
