No school merger

By Yvonne Gardiner

FOUR MURWILLUMBAH schools that were set to merge will now stay open, thanks to the Australian Labor Party’s resounding win in both the seat of Lismore and in the state as a whole.

Re-elected Lismore MP Janelle Saffin romped home with a 14.1 per cent swing at close of counting on Tuesday night. She said with Labor in government, she could deliver the election commitments secured from Premier Chris Minns and his team during the campaign.

“Yes the commitment was to keep the four (Murwillumbah) schools open,” Ms Saffin said.

“The upgrade of Murwillumbah High School will of course proceed as it is in train, and I stated that before the election, but it will not now have to accommodate four school communities.

“I shall very soon have the conversation with the Minister-elect Prue Car and of course with the school communities.

On Monday, Ms Saffin announced that she was straight back to work in the office, fighting for communities across the Lismore electorate.

“Lots of issues to follow up for local people and community needs that I am putting forward strongly to the new government,” she said.

“The win means I carry forward the hope and faith that people have put in me to be their representative and I do feel the responsibility to represent us all without fear or favour.

“I really am honoured to carry forward the rebuild, recovery and all the other day-to-day issues that impact local lives.”

While Ms Saffin was the clear winner on election night, by close of counting on Tuesday night, on a two-candidate preferred basis, she had secured a convincing 23,426 (66%) of votes.

Her closest contender was the Nationals’ Alex Rubin with 12,054 (34%) of the 42,318 (73.7%) votes counted.

Of the first preference votes, Ms Saffin claimed 18,617 (45.2%), Mr Rubin 11,632 (28.2%) and the Greens’ Adam Guise 5,798 (14.1%).

Mr Rubin wished Ms Saffin “happy hunting” in the coming term of government.

“We hope that the recovery for our region will gain traction and that we will see real results delivered to the people, on the wide-ranging promises made during the election,” he said.

“This was a very different election. The frustration within the community was evident during campaigning and again registered at the ballot box.

“We ran a budget campaign, after making a principled decision not to seek donations from a disaster-affected community.

“This did mean that we were outspent three to one, and had to fight an uphill battle to get our message ‘out there’ during the campaign.

“The message that voters sent to us was clear, they want to see greater action on recovery, and they were dissatisfied with the performance and scandals of the previous federal and NSW Coalition governments.”

Mr Rubin told The Weekly he was proud to have run a campaign with integrity and honesty.

“I am humbled by the support and assistance provided to our campaign effort across the region. I would like to thank our community for the opportunity to run in this election, and the confidence that has

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been shown by our election results. We will be back in 2027,” he said.

Ms Saffin also thanked voters in the electorate of Lismore for their support.

“I am very mindful of the trust you have put in me and will not let you down,” she said. “I am ready to work.”

Ms Saffin listed her priorities in the Tweed Shire — to deliver more affordable housing, to have a 24/7 police presence in Murwillumbah, flood recovery, and ensure staffing levels at Murwillumbah District Hospital.

“There are more, but these ones will be rolled out as soon as possible,” she told The Weekly.

“There is of course the establishment of the Energy Corporation to roll out and hopefully ramp up renewables, removal of the wages cap for paramedics and other frontline staff, and the cessation of the privatisation of our public assets.”

Line of Coins is coming back to the main street of Murwillumbah next week and it's for a great cause. The above image was taken in 2019 and featured in The Weekly