His father, Tom Hartsuyker, immigrated from the Netherlands in 1951 and subsequently established a Dutch-themed tourist park in Coffs Harbour called The Clog Barn.

[6] In 2008, Hartsyuker was named after refusing to leave the Chamber for holding a life-sized cardboard cutout of then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, which he passed on to other members of the Opposition frontbench.

[6] A number of seat-level opinion polls in Cowper found the incumbent Hartsuyker and independent Oakeshott neck-and-neck on the two-party-preferred vote.

Hartsuyker won re-election, but suffered a swing of 13 percent – the closest that the Nationals had come to losing Cowper in over half a century.

A 2011 poll in the Coffs Harbour Advocate, representing those within his electorate, resulted in 78% of respondents in favour of same-sex marriage.