Pru Goward wins Goulburn

After a week of counting and waiting, Pru Goward has won Goulburn. Paul Stephenson conceded defeat this afternoon, following the counting of Postal Votes.

This Blog congratulates Pru for the victory, and I look forward to working with Pru, in opposing further pumping of the Kangaloon Aquifer.

Pru was a fast learner, on issues of water policy. We first met at Jonathan and Liz Bell's property in mid-January, and frankly, Pru was pretty "green" on "water". She subsequently spoke at the Robertson anti-pumping Meeting, when she appeared to have been briefed by people who did not know very much about the issues. Clearly they thought the issue was sending water to Sydney, and Pru promised not to allow the water to go to Sydney. It sounded good, but questioning revealed that she did not know much beyond that. That was understandable, as she was new.

However, by the time it came to the CanWin environmental issues debate, Pru had a water policy. She understood the issues, and she was up and running.

Ok, she was sparring with Paul Stephenson about pipelines to Goulburn, from Googong Dam, not Wingecarribee Reservoir, etc, but still she knew a lot more than she had earlier. And she was prepared to argue her case.

Personally, I acknowedge that I supported Paul Stephenson, as he had the clearest policy on the Kangaloon Aquifer, and to have supported some else, with a less-clear water policy would have been political opportunism on my part. So, I stuck to my principles, and assisted Maureen Vanevsky in handing out "How to Vote" cards for Paul at Bowral Memorial Hall, in the afternoon of polling day. Regular readers will be aware that I had spent the morning in Robertson (in the Kiama Electorate) handing out "How to Vote" cards for the Greens - for the same reason - they simply had the best policy on the Kangaloon Aquifer, in that electorate.

What I can also acknowledge now is that I had sent a few briefing papers to Pru, to assist her in getting across the issues of the Kangaloon Aquifer. No matter who won, I judged that it is better to have candidates who knew the ins and outs of what they were speaking about.