NOW the state election has been run and won, attention is naturally turning to the federal election and any lessons that might be learned from Saturday's result.
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May 11 is firming as the likely date for the federal poll, though Prime Minister Scott Morrison seems to be delighting in keeping people guessing for as long as possible.
Political parties - particularly defeated political parties - are always quick to claim that state and federal elections are fought on different issues, but it's hard to know just how true that might be.
Indeed, many of the volunteers who handed out how-to-vote flyers at booths on Saturday will tell you there is always a level of confusion among voters about where the line is drawn between state and federal responsibilities.
And, locally, any portents for the federal election result - which largely incorporates the state seats of Bathurst and Orange - are muddied by the personal popularity of the state MPs Paul Toole and Phil Donato, respectively.
The Nationals' Andrew Gee is sitting on a 12 per cent margin following the 2016 election and his Labor opponent will again be Bathurst councillor Jess Jennings.
But the emergence of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers as an electoral force - and confirmation from the party this week that it would be targeting Nationals-held seats at the federal election - creates a different landscape this time round.
And tallying together the first preference votes cast in Bathurst and Orange at the weekend makes for some interesting reading as we countdown to the federal poll.
The Nationals' candidates, Mr Toole and Kate Hazelton, picked up a total of 37,733 first preference votes while the SFF's Mr Donato and Brenden May tallied 29,919.
The Labor pair of Beau Riley and Luke Sanger were a long way back with a total of 14,150 votes.
But not every Orange voter who supported Mr Donato on Saturday will also vote for an SFF candidate - if one does run in Calare - come May, just as not all of Mr Toole's votes will automatically flow to Mr Gee.
And Dr Jennings has already contested two elections and built a profile across the electorate, so he should expect to poll better overall than Labor's state candidates.
Which all adds up to nothing much at all, but is certainly some food for thought over the next month or two.
Over to you, Mr Morrison.
