6:00 – Polls have just closed for the by-election for the New South Wales state seat of Port Macquarie, covering one of the larger regional cities on the mid north coast.
I’m out tonight so probably won’t be live-blogging much, but you can discuss the results here and I might drop in a little bit.
This is a fascinating contest pitting the Liberal and Nationals parties up against each other. The Nationals have dominated the Coalition on the north coast of New South Wales, despite Liberal incursions into local councils in Tweed and Mid-Coast and a large influx of ex-Sydneysiders in the area. Former sitting MP Leslie Williams quit the Nationals and joined the Liberal Party in 2020 over policies regarding koalas.
The Nationals want to win the seat back, while the Liberals won’t want to lose their sole foothold in the north coast. The 2023 contest in this seat was the first time we’ve seen a proper contest between the coalition parties in this part of the world in a long time. The Liberals won easily, but that was with a sitting MP who has now retired.
While we wait for results, you can read my election guide here.