The election saw a radical shift in the state of Australian politics, with the Coalition losing it's stronghold on Parliament and currently only holding 55 seats, losing over 20 seats in the election.
One of the party members who managed to retain their seat was Federal member for Farrer Sussan Ley, who now finds herself in the minority government for the first time in almost a decade.
Ms Ley said that with the change in circumstance, she was concerned with whether Farrer would continue to receive funding.
"We benefitted from over half a billion dollars in additional programs and projects in just the last three years, but I fear that type of investment will be cut back under a new administration," she said.
She was particularly worried about the Labor and Greens policies on water recovery and the Murray-Darling Basin, with goals of ensuring water savings and buyback schemes for the basin.
"The Coalition Government understood the impact of the Basin Plan on irrigation communities, and we'll be making the case to protect them every single day from the opposition benches," she said.
While the Coalition may be recovering from one of their worst election results in memory, Ms Ley's seat remained safe and mostly uncontested during the Farrer count.
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The count saw a 2.6 per cent swing to the ALP in the two-party system, however the strong margin by which Ms Ley held it left her with over 50 per cent of total votes.
She said that she was 'honoured and humbled' by her own election.
"I put my hand up for this job because I love what I do and want to see our region grow and prosper, and this will never change."
During the campaign, as is standard, a number of promises were made including a $3 million allocation for the Roxy Theatre redevelopment, and two million dollars to the Riverside Caravan Park.
Ms Ley said she would be committing to those promises.
"Those projects are important and I'll be making the case to the new government ministers and departments that they absolutely still deserve Commonwealth support."
Cai Holroyd
Journalist for the Area News in Griffith. RMIT graduate. Full-time writer and part-time nuisance. Been described as 'present.'
Journalist for the Area News in Griffith. RMIT graduate. Full-time writer and part-time nuisance. Been described as 'present.'
