This was published 5 months ago
NSW’s safest seat to go to byelection as MP quits
By Alexandra Smith and James Massola
The Nationals MP Adam Marshall, who holds the state’s safest seat, has confirmed he is quitting parliament, prompting the first byelection in this term of NSW parliament.
Marshall, a former minister for agriculture and western NSW, announced he would retire from his Northern Tablelands seat next month to pursue a job in the private sector.
Nationals MP Adam Marshall’s resignation will prompt the first byelection in this term of parliament.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Several Nationals sources speaking on the condition of anonymity said Marshall, 39, was unlikely to depart politics permanently and has long been touted as a possible replacement in the federal seat of New England, currently held by former deputy prime minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce.
However, in a statement Marshall said: “I’ve come to the conclusion that despite absolutely loving our region, its people and my role as a local state MP, I cannot put this move off any longer. This will be the end of representative politics for me.”
Marshall holds Northern Tablelands with a margin of 33.2 per cent. He was elected to parliament in 2013, in a byelection triggered by the resignation of independent MP Richard Torbay.
He said he would hand in his resignation on May 13, ending 11 years in Macquarie Street.
‘I am at the fag end of my politics career, I am much closer to the end than the start.’
Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce
“This is not a decision I have made lightly, but it’s one I’m now very comfortable with,” Marshall said. “Put simply, I feel it’s time for me to move on and take up new challenges.
“It was never my intention to stay forever, believing that our region is best served by those prepared to get in, give it everything they have and then pass the baton on to fresh hands. Hopefully, I have done this.”
Joyce told this masthead he had no plans to retire from politics but added he was closer to the end of his career than the start.
“When the time comes, as it ultimately does for all of us, that you step out of representative politics then the first people I will tell is my federal electoral council,” he said.
“I am at the fag end of my politics career, I am much closer to the end than the start.”
He paid tribute to Marshall’s service to voters in the Northern Tablelands seat while noting the pair had not always been close.
“We have had our differences, but we mended them, and we get along well. Adam is a very capable politician,” Joyce said.
“Politics is about people with strong views. I am more of the Right and he is more of the Left. But I absolutely respect his work rate around the electorate and I don’t think everyone should think like me.”
A statement from NSW Nationals leader Dugald Saunders said, “Marshall has been a great local member and advocate for his community”.
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