While the national media attention on the region has waned, the issues raised and discussed ad nauseam throughout the campaign still remain.
Whether Mr Farley is able to influence decisions in these key areas remains to be seen.
He has about two years until the next federal election to show the community it made the right choice.
From early in the by-election campaign, it was obvious the only two winning prospects were One Nation and Independent Michelle Milthorpe.
In the end, Mrs Milthorpe was smashed by her association with Climate 200 and the so-called ‘teal’ independents, who have a background of continually supporting Labor and Greens.
As such, especially outside Albury, it probably should not have come as a surprise that voters would react negatively to this association.
Lessons need to be learned from the by-election by the Coalition.
The Liberals were always going to perform poorly, with many constituents dissatisfied with the representation over many years from long-serving Member for Farrer Sussan Ley.
Ms Ley failed her communities over the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
She was a vocal opponent of its implementation during years in Opposition, but toed the party line of delivering the plan when in government.
The Nationals, able to field a candidate in Farrer for the first time in nearly 25 years, did not present as a viable alternative.
These Coalition partners have a lot of work to do if they are any chance of winning Farrer in the foreseeable future, and it would be unwise to leave the preparation until the next federal election is announced.
They need to regroup, grow their supporter base from the ground up, actively promote policies and convince constituencies they are not a spent force.
But back to One Nation.
David Farley did not have a faultless campaign, but had sufficient momentum to score his convincing victory.
It was disappointing that in the final days before voting he was reluctant to deal with the media, refusing to answer questions from the Pastoral Times and reportedly avoiding television cameras. He has also not been forthcoming with efforts to communicate since the by-election.
We hope this is not a reflection on the way he will represent our community.
We need an open and transparent local Member of Parliament who aggressively advocates on our behalf. This includes keeping the community informed through contemporary and traditional channels.
The Pastoral Times congratulates Mr Farley on his success, and we look forward to working collaboratively with him to highlight issues of concern, advocate for effective solutions and rebuild a region that was politically forgotten for too long.
• Editor’s note: Since this opinion piece was published, Mr Farley has been in contact with the Deniliquin Pastoral Times. Pick up the Tuesday, June 2 edition for an update on his plans moving forward.
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