Luke Hartsuyker yesterday said he wasn’t yet going to claim victory and Paul Sekfy said he wasn’t going to concede defeat after Saturday’s federal election turned Cowper into one of the country’s most marginal seats.

Following the counting of votes, Mr Hartsuyker, the Nationals MP, had 50.9 per cent of the vote after preferences and Labor candidate Mr Sekfy had 49.1 per cent.

It was the 10th closest margin among the 150 House of Representative seats across Australia.

A definite result is not expected until later in the week when the 11,000 pre-poll, postal and absentee votes are counted.

The swing against Mr Hartsuyker reflected a nationwide swing against the Coalition that swept it out of office after almost 12 years of power and looks set to see Prime Minister John Howard lose his seat of Bennelong to former ABC journalist Maxine McKew.

What started out in 2004 as a simple local tribute to the memory of Slim Dusty who had passed away just one year before, is now a fully-fledged concert set to attract legions of fans of the man himself, and his style of music.

Mr Hartsuyker would not speculate yesterday on the swing against the Coalition, saying he would leave it up to the commentators to discuss why the Howard Government lost power.

Unless there is strong support for one of the major parties among the postal and pre-poll votes for Cowper yet to be counted, Cowper will be the third most marginal seat in NSW.

Mr Sekfy yesterday told The Macleay Argus he had complete faith the new Labor Government would deliver on the commitments he made during the campaign.

These commitments included $1 million for a CT scanner and portable ultrasound machine at Kempsey District Hospital, $700,000 for a water treatment plant at Bellbrook and matching the Nationals’ promise of $6 million to build the Slim Dusty Centre.

Mr Sekfy said he celebrated the change to a Labor government on Saturday night and said the vote in Cowper was a great result.

“Obviously the people of Cowper have made a statement about being taken seriously,” Mr Sekfy said.

Asked how he was feeling about the result he said he agreed with Maxine McKew’s remark on Saturday night: “You tell me an emotion and I’ll tell you I’m feeling it.”

Whether it was deliberate or not, Mr Sekfy again echoed Ms McKew’s words when he said Cowper will never be taken for granted again.

Mr Sekfy said he was hoping he would win, making Cowper a swinging seat, but said otherwise it would be the next best thing – a marginal seat.

Story courtesy The Macleay Argus. Written by Laurie Bullock.

Further information about the Slim Dusty Foundation and its aims please contact General Manager, Kathryn Yarnold at 02 6562 6533 or 1800 18 SLIM or visit our website www.slimdustycentre.com.au