Roy Butler re-elected to Barwon for second term

Independent parliamentarian Roy Butler will serve a second term as the Member for Barwon in the NSW Legislative Assembly following a strong showing at the weekend.

Polling booth results counted on Saturday night showed Mr Butler’s support had significantly increased since the 2019 election.

Results from the two Narrabri polling booths – at the aquatic centre and St Lawrence’s Anglican Church hall – saw Mr Butler claim the most first preference votes.

The results from the two booths combined saw Mr Butler receive 784 first preference votes, Nationals candidate Annette Turner 566, Labor’s Joshua Roberts-Garnsey 220, Shooters, Farmers and Fishers’ Paul Britton 126, Legalise Cannabis Party’s Ben Hartley 54, Greens’ Pat Schultz 31, independent Stuart Howe 16 and the Public Education Party’s Thomas McBride 7.

First preference results also strongly improved for Mr Butler at Burren Junction, where he claimed 70 per cent of votes, and at Wee Waa with 53 per cent of votes. His vote also increased at Pilliga.

While Baan Baa, Bellata and Boggabri favoured the Nationals candidate, some by only as little as two votes, support for Mr Butler also increased.

A breakdown of polling booth results across the electorate shows Mr Butler’s biggest gains were in Goodoga, with his first preference results increasing by 255 per cent compared to the last election, Collarenebri 123 per cent, Gilgandra 84 per cent, Burren Junction 74 per cent and Wee Waa 71 per cent.

Mr Butler contested the weekend’s election as an independent candidate after defecting from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party last year due to remarks made by the party’s leader Robert Borsak who said former party member Helen Dalton, the Member for Murray, should have been “clocked”.

The comment was made during a sitting of the Upper House and can be heard during a parliamentary broadcast.

Mr Butler and fellow party MP Phil Donato, the Member of Orange, resigned following a fallout with the party’s leader in relation the remark.

Speaking about this year’s state election, Mr Butler described the support he had received as incredible.

“A lot of volunteers, a lot of people have volunteered their vehicles, their houses, their businesses, their bodies to help promote, which is fantastic. It’s a huge electorate,” Mr Butler told The Courier last week leading up to Saturday’s poll.

“I think that my opposition probably thought not having a branch structure would mean that we wouldn’t have the support we need but I’ve probably got more support from volunteers and other assistants in 2023 than I had in 2019 when I was with a party.”

Nationals candidate for Barwon Annette Turner thanked her supporters for their assistance throughout the campaign.

“It’s been an incredible journey, and I’m grateful for your unwavering commitment,” she said.

“The Nats will always back Barwon.”

Labor’s candidate Joshua Roberts-Garnsey, of Narrabri, was equally as thankful for the support he had received.

“I gave everything, drove thousands of kilometres and in the end – got what I thought was a great result for my first time,” he said.

“I am so amazed and pleased that we have been able to form government and I know Chris Minns will do amazing things for this state.”

In neighbouring state electorates, Nationals MPs Kevin Anderson and Adam Marshall were re-elected to represent Tamworth and Northern Tablelands.