I could never have done this without the amazing team of volunteers who gave up their time to hand out flyers, to have a conversation, to wave a banner, or to put up a few hundred corflute signs (and promptly pull them down again)! And of course handing out at pre-poll and election day.

If you scroll down there’s a link to the pre-poll and election day results - at most booths, the difference between me and my main opponent was less than a hundred votes, and in some booths the difference was single digits. That proves it came down to every conversation, every smile, every flyer handed out. So to the wonderful team of “Wakehurst Warriors” - a massive, massive thank you!

I look forward to catching up with you all on Saturday 22 April (details below) and I encourage you all to please stay involved in our community movement.

Bronwen and I finally had a celebratory drink over the weekend and are finding time to follow up on the many messages of congratulations that have been flooding in. But there’s been little time to relax as the important work of representing Wakehurst has already begun.

I have already met with the Premier and a number of key Ministers including the Roads Minister and the Transport Minister. I have also met with other Members of the Crossbench to learn from their experiences and start planning how we will set up the Wakehurst Electoral Office.

It’s all been very surreal and all very positive.

I look forward to opening up the office soon and hope that you’ll drop by at some stage.

Finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the outgoing Member for Wakehurst, Brad Hazzard. Brad has been a great Member and Minister in Government, particularly as Health Minister over recent years. I have enjoyed a good working relationship with him and other local Liberal MPs as we worked hard for our community. Brad was part of a polite and respectful election campaign and has been very gracious since the results came in - I was grateful for his offer of a handover as this will only be of benefit to the community of Wakehurst to have a smooth transition.

I’d also like to thank the other candidates who put their hand up to run for Wakehurst and to their team of supporters and volunteers. I love that we can have a range of views and opinions to choose from on election day - it’s a big deal to put your name on a ballot paper and I respect all those who do so. So thank you to Sue, Susan, Ethan and Toby and your teams for what was a respectful and polite campaign. I think we can agree that democracy is alive and well in Wakehurst!

I intend to keep sending these newsletters to keep you updated with what’s happening in Wakehurst and Parliament. I’d like you to stay involved, to give me your thoughts and feedback.

Onwards and upwards from here. I feel a sense of responsibility but I don’t feel pressure. I feel excited for the future. I will continue to engage with you and seek your advice and counsel. It’s what your Parliament reps should all be doing. It’s certainly what I will be doing.

Thanks again for the incredible support and the opportunity to stand up for Wakehurst in Parliament.

Regards,

POLICY HIGHLIGHT

There’s no denying that one of the key issues in the election was that of public transport. Whether it was the loss of vital services like the 169, the long wait times for the B-Line or the lack of service and commuter information in the Forest area, all corners of Wakehurst are impacted by the changes to our public transport system.

I have already met with the new Transport Minister Jo Haylen and I have invited her to come and see the problems first hand. I am hopeful that we can get some immediate changes introduced and I will be establishing a community consultation group to look at the issues more broadly. Watch this space for further details.

Visit my website to view the full list of priorities for the Wakehurst area.

EVENTS

Team Regan Barefoot Bowls @ Dee Why Bowling Club

2pm Saturday April 22nd

Michael’s swearing in and First Speech to Parliament

We’ll keep you updated on details as they are confirmed

TALLYROOM

While the final checks and counts are still ongoing, the preliminary results are in. Click on the link and scroll to “Wakehurst” - you’ll be able to see the results for both First Preferences (FP) and Two Candidates Preferred (TCP). You can drill down to individual booths to see just how close it got.

Thank you again to everyone that helped hand out, either at pre-poll in the week leading up to election day or on the big day itself. Every conversation, every flyer, every smile counted!

Thanks so much for your support. Exciting times ahead!