The former senator says she hasn’t made up her mind to contest the electorate at the March, 2015 state poll.

But the outcome of a meeting last week with NSW Labor will have a big bearing.

“I said if we are to have a decent tilt at this seat for the people of Goulburn, we need the resources,” Dr Stephens told the Post.

“We need campaigning staff and some resources to be put into a proper campaign… I am not trying to be coy or cagey but I’ve said if they want me to run, this is what is needed.”

She is expecting a response by the end of the month and will then decide.

Dr Stephens says Labor head office should be treating Goulburn as a marginal seat.

She believes sitting MP Pru Goward’s margin is much closer than the 26 per cent political analyst Antony Green and the Liberals predict.

Recent polling puts it at a notional 16pc.

She’s picking up on Liberal “disaffection” in the electorate.

“I think that Goulburn’s a bit tired of having an apologist as a local member, someone who says she’ll try hard but doesn’t get very far,” Dr Stephens said of sitting member Pru Goward.

“I think a good example of that is how long it’s taken to move her office.”

Ms Goward hopes to open her Goulburn office next month, shifting from Bowral after seven years.

Dr Stephens said people had been telling her Ms Goward was not “accessible.”

As a local member, one had to have an open door policy because the idea of telling their story over and over could be distressing for people who needed help.

“They want to talk to the person who can make a difference,” she said.

“…Whoever is candidate will be able to actually galvanise action around a real sense of dissatisfaction and disengagement of the local member from the electorate.

People say she is ambitious as a minister but has kind of forgotten the locals.”

But Dr Stephens has not let her own party off the hook.

She told party officials that by running a ‘phantom candidate’ in Goulburn at the last election (university student Crystal Validakis), people felt “taken for granted” and sensed that Labor didn’t care.

“If I was going to run, I’d be running for Goulburn,” she said.

“I wouldn’t step away from being a Labor Party candidate but I’d be canvassing it like an independent with Goulburn’s best interests in mind. I have said there are some policies I won’t be open to supporting.”

Dr Stephens expects Labor headquarters’ response to be discussed at the October 1 Goulburn branch meeting and for nominations for the seat to be called two days later.

There are others interested.

Cr Robin Saville has declared his intention to nominate. A second Goulburn man, a female from Yass and a Southern Highlands resident may also put up their hands.

Branch president Jason Shepherd told the Post this could change if Dr Stephens nominated.

She says they are all “very good” candidates.

The seat’s changing dynamics make the 2015 election a different ballgame in her book.

Yass is now part of the electorate.

As almost a “satellite of Canberra” rather than a regional centre in the Southern Tablelands, people had different expectations and priorities.

This influenced education choices and made it imperative to fix infrastructure like the Yass water supply and the Barton Highway.

“They need a local advocate to support infrastructure needs,” Dr Stephens said.

Similarly, growth along the Sydney to Canberra corridor was exerting pressure on house prices. With Goulburn city forecast to grow by 5000 people in the next 10 years, authorities had to think about infrastructure, transport and community requirements.

Analysing what had been shut down and services lost was part of this, as was working closely with Council.

Dr Stephens does not believe Labor is leaving its run too late, six months out from the election.

“I think it is enough time because there are a vast number of people not engaged in the political mindset at all,” she said.

“Everyone will be saying let’s get over Christmas and I’ll think about politics.”

Nevertheless, the local branch is putting “systemic” aspects in place in the election lead up.

After 12 years in the Senate Dr Stephens says she has the energy and commitment for state politics. In addition, she is not fazed by the possibility of being in opposition, saying it makes one “resourceful and resilient.”