THERE were no surprises at Bathurst Panthers on Saturday when State Member for Orange Andrew Gee claimed victory in the Nationals preselection ballot for the federal seat of Calare.

The announcement was made to a full house of Nationals, 385 of whom were eligible to vote in the ballot.

Mr Gee was the hot favourite for preselection, with betting agency Sportsbet placing his odds at $1.45 on Friday afternoon.

The new federal candidate told the Western Advocate he felt “very humbled, exhausted and relieved” to be selected by members.

“All of the candidates have fought hard to get their agendas in front of party members and I was lucky enough and fortunate enough to be elected as the candidate today,” Mr Gee said.

“Preselections are very gruelling and they take a toll on all candidates and their families, and so I think it is important to acknowledge the amount of work all of the candidates put in, not only today, but over the last eight or nine weeks.”

Mr Gee will replace John Cobb as the Nationals candidate for Calare, following Mr Cobb’s retirement.

Federal Electorate Council chairman Brett Kenworthy said Calare had received a good candidate going into the next election.

“I always said from day one, the first question I got asked, “what do you hope for?” I hope for an open, fair process and the best candidate to be selected from the group of nominees,” he said.

“The support [for Mr Gee] was absolute.”

The victory, however, comes with a costly consequence.

With Mr Gee to represent the Nationals for the seat of Calare, a by-election will need to be called to find a new State Member for Orange. 

In March, a spokesperson for the NSW Electoral Commission said it would be hard to predict the cost of a by-election, but suggested the bill for taxpayers could be $450,000. 

Mr Gee acknowledged the cost would be high, but said he was committed to ensuring there would be great returns for the people. 

“I was heartened by the fact that the Orange Ratepayers Association said that they believe that any cost of a by-election would be far outweighed by the benefits that we could get for the seat of Calare,” he said. “So, I’m going to make sure that if I’m elected as the Federal Member for Calare, we are going to make sure that Calare gets everything it’s entitled to, in terms of services, infrastructure and policies for the people of Calare.” 

Mr Gee has singled out roads, water security and job creation in the Central West as his priorities if the Nationals are able to secure the federal seat for Calare once again.