Despite a large two-party-preferred swing, Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis retained the seat.

Steve Cansdell resigned from parliament after admitting to making a false statutory declaration regarding a speeding offence.

One of the main issues of the campaign was coal seam gas (CSG) production.

Labor accused the Coalition government of putting the environment at risk by not ruling out future CSG, while resources minister Chris Hartcher claimed that "Every CSG licence that exists in NSW was granted by the Labor government of which John Robertson was a minister".

[2] Other issues in the campaign were more local, with candidates jousting over ways to create more jobs in Grafton [3] and reduce crime in Casino.