BARNABY Joyce has officially won the New England by-election.
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The Australian Electoral Commission announced the final results of Saturday’s by-election in Armidale on Wednesday and Mr Joyce was sworn back in as Member for New England, Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister later that day.
“It is an incredible honour … I understand how great the weight is of holding such an office and what an incredible bestowment it is by the Australian people to give you the chance to once more serve our nation in such a formative way,” Mr Joyce said at Government House on Wednesday.
“What I would like to say at the outset is that I would like to thank the people of New England for their tolerance and forbearance through the processes of the election, and also show my incredible gratitude for the overwhelming endorsement that we received.
“I think New England is now the safest seat in Parliament and it didn't start that way.”
AEC Officer for NSW, Warwick Austin said the conduct of polling and the counting process had been implemented successfully.
“It is a credit to the dedication and professionalism of AEC staff and temporary polling officials that the by-election experience was smooth for over 94,000 electors who cast their vote,” Mr Austin on Tuesday.
Around 4000 votes are still to be counted but it won’t effect the results with Joyce trumping 16 other candidates, snagging more than 56,000 votes.
Despite the inconvenience of the election, Mr Joyce said he “really enjoyed” the campaign.
The by-election was called after Mr Joyce was disqualified by the High Court due to his New Zealand citizenship.