RETURNED Lismore MP Thomas George has paid tribute to Tenterfield voters for getting him over the line in the hotly contested Lismore electorate.
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Mr George was officially declared the winner last Wednesday after a week and a half of uncertainty.
It came down to 2345 votes leaving Mr George on a margin of only 2.86 per cent - a stark decrease on the 24.3 per cent he enjoyed after the 2011 state election.
The returned MP visited Tenterfield the day after his win to thank volunteers and supporters.
Throughout the campaign Mr George was labelled a “political dinosaur”, but it’s a tag he’s happy to have.
“What comes with being a dinosaur? Experience,” he said.
George has held the seat since 1999 and has made no secret that this will be his last term.
He says, despite his longevity, even he was taken aback by how “toxic” the campaign became.
“I’m naturally humbled by the vote but it was a bruising and toxic campaign.
“Two arrests at the pre-poll, my door at my campaign office glued up - I had to get a locksmith in to fix that up - signs completely defaced and they were only half the things that happened.
“Accusations were made of my family - I've built this seat on integrity and I've built my life on integrity but when you question what my family have done you start to hurt,” he said.
Mr George said he was threatened with physical violence and received anonymous phone calls late into the night.
“To win, it restores my faith in human nature. I always felt I had the support of the silent majority.”
Over the course of the campaign one issue stood out from everything else – coal seam gas.
Mr George said the other parties ran scare campaigns that shied away from other topics.
“I never heard one comment about the Legume to Woodenbong road.”
George’s biggest concern while counting continued after March 28 was handing his seat over to the Greens.
“If I ever had to pass the baton over I could understand if Labor got up – but it would be hard to take if it were the Greens.
“I want people to appreciate the consequence of what that could have been – their policies leave a lot to be desired.”
Mr George said his government would stand by their promise to buy back CSG licences and he’d already been on the phone to NSW Minister for Resources and Energy Anthony Roberts to discuss it.
He acknowledged that Tenterfield’s vote likely handed him the victory.
“I’m proud to say that and I recognise that,” he said.
Greens candidate Adam Guise accepted his loss and thanked friends and supporters.
“This has been a historically close election in what was a safe Nationals seat. This is a safe seat no more,” Mr Guise said.
“Despite Mr George being re-elected on the narrowest of margins, the huge swing against the Nationals means Mr George must act for this community,” Guise said.