THE newly re-elected Member for Goulburn Pru Goward spent yesterday in the garden hacking out any poor weed that got in her way.
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Just a few hours before, she had fended off Labor’s Ursula Stephens in much the same manner.
Her campaign consisted of a quiet ruthlessness, attacking the enemy at its roots.
“What was Labor really offering?” she asked.
“They printed that Nats brochure. The electorate knew it was a trick and in the end they were caught out.”
She had described Dr Stephens’ last minute hospital funding announcement as a “typical Labor stunt” and consistently questioned the party’s commitment to the seat.
Ms Goward expects to preside over the electorate with a “corrected” margin of about six to seven per cent - maybe more.
She attributed a major swing against against her to a “fantastic campaign” by Dr Stephens.
“You have to remember Katrina (Hodgkinson) won the seat in 2003 by 5.4 per cent. We always thought that was the more realistic margin,” she said.
When asked if she feared for her seat, she revealed: “I had been looking for other jobs, yes.”
“I knew I was in for a fight. Ursula put in a fantastic campaign,” she said.
“The thing about her campaign which struck me most was that she did not look like a Goulburn candidate … she was the girl from Goulburn, promoting herself as the local.”
Ms Goward and Dr Stephens went head to head in the Goulburn and Yass booths.
But the incumbent overwhelmed the former federal senator in the Wingecarrribee Shire sector and the villages.
On Saturday night – excluding pre-poll and postal votes – Ms Goward had secured 14,679 primary votes to Dr Stephens’ 10,043. With 45 of the 46 polling booths counted, Ms Goward won 57.3 per cent (15,487 votes) after preferences to Dr Stephens’ 42.7pc (11,526).
Ms Goward said yesterday that, according to her scrutineers, she had won the Yass primary pre-poll count 1057 to 996 and the Goulburn prepoll 3346 to 3045.
She vowed the next four years would be an exciting time to live in Goulburn.
“It’s a wonderful privilege to be part of this government serving Goulburn,” she said.
“I have never underestimated this community and have never stopped learning about it.
“These next four years will be a great time for the City. We’ll get this hospital up, we’ll get that walking track done and I’ll be working to see that rail services are improved and, of course TAFE.”
The serenity of her large garden at the western end of town is a stark contrast to the political tumult Ms Goward has experienced these past 12 months.
She initially had to fend off a challenge from the Nationals in the form of Ms Hodgkinson (who easily won Cootmaundra on Saturday) before countering Dr Stephens’ enduring and highprofile campaign which culminated in last Thursday’s $270 million hospital pledge.
She said she wasn’t going to speculate on whether she would retain the Planning Ministry but confided that it and her former portfolio of Community Services were “two extremely difficult” positions.
She’ll enter her third term in Parliament after first being elected narrowly against Independent and former mayor Paul Stephenson in 2007.
“Back then, I thought I was going to win and nearly didn’t because I was naïve,” Ms Goward said.
“This time, I didn’t think I was going to win and did. It was hard work, our campaign budget was a fraction that of Labor’s and we had new areas in which to campaign, such as Yass, which was hard to penetrate.”
“I have learnt a lot and people, especially many women, have been very encouraging.”