After a false start, the National Party has named Annette Turner as their candidate for the Barwon electorate in the upcoming state election. 

Last month’s preselection for the party saw Annette Turner beaten by Broken Hill councillor Dave Gallagher, however within the week Mr Gallagher pulled out of the race, citing a lack of popularity in party polls. 

Days later, White Cliffs grazier Annette Turner was confirmed as the electorate's new candidate. 

Mrs Turner said that her month of travelling the Barwon electorate on her campaign trail have revealed a lot about what the electorate needs. 

“There’s so many issues. We’ve got water, we’ve got communications, we’ve got small business issues,” Mrs Turner said. 

While Mrs Turner said she found the current member for Barwon Roy Butler so be very approachable, she wanted the seat returned to the Nationals Party. 

“The reason I wanted to put my hand up was because the National Party has been putting a lot of infrastructure back into NSW and I’m afraid we might lose that,” she said. 

The former CWA NSW President - holding the position from 2016 to 2019 - is the National’s opportunity to reclaim what has historically been a Nationals seat, before being lost to Roy Butler in the Shooters Fishers Farmers Party in 2019. 

Mrs Turner attributes the turn from the Nationals Party to the ongoing drought of the time. 

“The drought was pretty nasty, it was in full swing…Everyone was looking for a change and it couldn’t be helped. Whoever was in (leadership) then was going to be in for a tough time,” Mrs Turner said. 

“Now its rained and we’ve got the opposite to the drought, so that’s why I thought I’d look at it with fresh eyes,” she said. 

Going into the election, Mrs Turner’s focus will be bringing the west back into the spotlight. 

“I think sometimes we’re a bit forgotten…I’d like to be the person to put up my hand and say ‘Oi, we’re still here, and we mean business’ and try to get people back in the bush and get them the services that have been missing for them.”

So far, no other parties have announced that they will be contesting the Barwon seat, leaving the Nationals party a sole opponent of the Shooters Fishers Farmers Party. 

The election will take place on Saturday 5 March, 2023.