Local council, University of New England (UNE) and community representatives turned up in force at the Armidale Town Hall to hear Member for Northern Tablelands, Richard Torbay reminisce about his first 10 years in Parliament.

The occasion was a public lecture on the political value of independent advocacy and of having an Independent Speaker in Parliament organised by Jim Maher from the Political and International School of Humanities at UNE.

Tracing his career from the UNE Union, to Armidale City Council mayor, local MP and Speaker of the NSW Legislative Assembly, Mr Torbay told his audience not to underestimate ‘people power’.

“People often think that political influence is wielded in the corridors of power in Sydney,” he said.

“That is so to some extent but politicians and the political parties are more than ever driven by polling and responding to reactions from the people who vote for them.

“Party politics in particular is very much focussed on winning the next election and polling plays a huge part in that. A good example of policy on the run was the recent abolition of school bus subsidies which was quickly reversed when the community made its opinion known.”

Mr Torbay said the achievements for the electorate during his 10 years in Parliament included helping to save the Armidale train service, building and upgrading hospitals and police stations, sealing major roads, replacing bridges and gaining government support for sporting facilities and community services.

All these things, he said, had been driven by the community. “When I first became an MP a lot of people, including community leaders, had lost hope and the belief they could be successful in gaining government support for their projects,” he said.

“However, since we have worked together and notched up a few big wins, there has been no stopping them. My office is one of the busiest in the State with representations from the community.

“That’s how I like it. I act as the advocate but the ideas come from the community. The value of being an Independent is that there is no other agenda and that we can work constructively with the government of the day regardless of its political leaning.”