By JONATHON HOWARD
INDEPENDENT Member for New England, Tony Windsor, will not contest his seat during the next election and will retire from politics.
After 22 years as a Member of Parliament, 10 years as the NSW State Member for Tamworth and 12 years as the Federal Member for New England, Mr Windsor has cited a number of reasons for his decision.
“I have always said that I planned to run for re-election as long as I was in good health and my family wanted me to, but that is no longer the case,” Mr Windsor said.
“I am experiencing some health issues which have yet to be resolved, and as much as I love this job I don’t want to die in it.
“The deal with my family has always been that I run as long as they support me doing so, and this time Lyn, Andrew, Kate and Tom have said that they would prefer me not to.
“Furthermore, after 22 years in parliament I don’t want to be here for another three years, which recent polling of the New England suggests that I would be.”
Mr Windsor said he was proud to have been in the unique position of holding the balance of power in two parliaments: the NSW Parliament in 1991-’95 when he supported the Greiner/Fahey Coalition Government and this federal parliament where he has supported the Gillard Labor Government.
He was also proud of having been able to work with the majority NSW State Labor Government, the Howard Coalition Federal Government and the Rudd Labor Federal Government to deliver positive outcomes for the Tamworth and New England electorates.
Mr Windsor thanked the people of the New England for their support over so many years as their representative at both the state and federal level.
