THE Port's newly elected State Member has wasted little time in rolling up her sleeves and beginning the work of restoring trust in the electorate.
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Kate Washington, who achieved a 19.5 per cent swing for the Labor Party to defeat Liberal candidate Ken Jordan, said her first priority was to repay voters for putting their faith into a new face in parliament.
She hoped to be in her Raymond Terrace office [previously occupied by outgoing Liberal MP Craig Baumann] by the end of the week.
"Since the declaration of poll on Thursday evening, I have spent three days at Parliament House in Sydney for an induction course," the Medowie mother-of-three said.
"There are a lot of logistics to get through . . . staffing, member's entitlements, ethics and the list goes on. I only ask people to be patient with email responses at the moment."
Ms Washington said that she was looking forward to her first day as a parliamentarian, scheduled for Tuesday, May 5, and her inaugural speech to be delivered during the opening three-week sitting.
"In my speech I will be outlining the things that are important to the electorate of Port Stephens . . . I feel very privileged to have earned the trust of the people and I want to assure them that I will carry out the role in a professional and transparent manner."
Ms Washington said she was honoured to hold a shadow parliamentary secretary's position in the Opposition ministry, but her service first and foremost was to the Port electorate.
"I would like to think that I could use my skills [as a health lawyer] in a supporting role to the shadow ministry.
"I will also be vigilant in ensuring that the Baird government honours its pre-election commitments to the people of Port Stephens. Any failure to fulfil these promises would be unforgivable."
Ms Washington said she would also be pursuing the government on frontline services in the Port such as mental health, Yacaaba Centre funding, Tomaree Hospital upgrade and a high school for Medowie.