Now that the dust has settled from the NSW election we can begin to look at how the next four years shapes up under a third term Coalition government.
As we congratulate Gladys Berejiklian in becoming the first woman to be elected premier of our great state, we note for the record that she has promised to govern for all of us.
This is especially pertinent in those parts of South West Sydney which returned Labor members – Liverpool, Macquarie Fields and Campbelltown.
The last two in particular deserve a mention because Anoulack Chanthivong and Greg Warren both increased their majorities in winning four more years and a second term.
Both are model political representatives and if NSW Labor’s powerbrokers have anything between the ears Chanthivong and Warren should be the first two people included in the opposition shadow cabinet.
Having covered politics for a very long time, I am confident in saying that I have never witnessed a situation where even the opponents praise the performance of a local MP the way our two Labor MPs have been over the past four years.
Indeed it’s fair to say local Liberal Party operatives had conceded the two seats a long time ago.
What will be interesting to watch is the rate of development in Camden, which elected a Liberal candidate, the current mayor, Peter Sidgreaves, on March 23.
He is on the record as agreeing that Camden grew too much too fast, and that this needs to slow down.
Mr Sidgreaves, pictured above, told the South West Voice in Macarthur that Premier Berejiklian agrees with this sentiment.
Nobody is asking for a full moratorium on development – that’s impossible when you consider a new international airport is being build up the road from Narellan.
And while the property market has cooled down appreciably in the past year or so, we hope Mr Sidgreaves keeps a keen eye on development around Camden.
He will be stepping down as mayor but will stay on as a councillor, so that will help keep him in the loop at the local level.
We look forward to four productive and interesting years across the great South West of Sydney and we wish all the successful candidates the best of luck.
