Kingmakers to face the fury

INDEPENDENTS Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor have defied decades of tradition in their seats by backing Labor.

INDEPENDENTS Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor have defied decades of tradition in their seats by backing Labor.

And some locals say they will not vote for them again.

Mr Oakeshott's NSW mid-north coast electorate of Lyne was held by the Nationals and their predecessors from 1949 until he took it from his old party at a by-election two years ago.

Tony Windsor's seat of New England, an electorate contested at the first federal poll, has an even stronger Nationals pedigree: it has only been in Labor hands for seven of its 109 years.

When Mr Windsor took the seat from the Nationals in 2001, he ended the party's 79-year hold on the seat.

A backlash was looming against the pair in their electorates yesterday.

Port Macquarie resident Maggie McFadden voted for Mr Oakeshott on August 21 because she wanted a local member who was a "strong independent voice" for the Lyne electorate.

But the 74-year-old retiree, who used to run a farm at Beechwood on the town's outskirts, says she will never again vote for Mr Oakeshott after what she called his "betrayal".

"He sold us out for 30 pieces of silver," Ms McFadden said in reference to reports Mr Oakeshott had been offered a position in the Gillard cabinet.

"What's wrong with remaining an independent? There are so many people up here who are really upset by what he has done.

"It's not right, and I think the whole situation is untenable. Julia Gillard does not have a mandate. I think we'll be back at the polls within six months."

Ms McFadden said she had no preference as to whether Labor or the Coalition formed government, but she believed Mr Oakeshott's decision to support Ms Gillard would not be warmly received by the electorate.

"This is a conservative electorate. It's not Labor Party heartland, I tell you that. I doubt people will vote for Mr Oakeshott next time round - I certainly won't."

Ms McFadden's husband John did not vote for Mr Oakeshott, and he believes the independent's decision to side with Labor was against the wishes of the people of Lyne.

"Up here, there's a lot of self-funded retirees and the like. The Labor Party philosophy isn't popular, so I don't know why Mr Oakeshott went that way," said the former Sydney banker, who moved to Port Macquarie six years ago.

Mr McFadden, 64, was not impressed by Mr Oakeshott's pledge to use his position to deliver better outcomes for regional Australia.

"That's fine, but what I want is a government that is a sound economic manager that keeps the country as a whole on the right track," he said.

"And Gillard and Swan don't have any kind of record in that regard."

Mr McFadden said he would have preferred Mr Oakeshott to support a Coalition government, but he doubted either party could run a successful minority government.

"I think the Governor-General should have had her John Kerr moment - dissolve it, and send them back to the polls."

But Port Macquarie newcomers David and Kim Edwards believe the minority government will do well.

While both preferred a Labor minority government over a Tony Abbott-led one - "Labor are the least worse," 46-year-old Mr Edwards said - the couple are optimistic a minority government would function effectively.

Mr and Ms Edwards, who recently moved from Sydney with their three children, both voted for Mr Oakeshott because they believed the major parties have lost their way.

"The fact the independents are the wild cards in the parliament isn't a bad thing," said Ms Edwards, 45.

"It's a wake-up call for the major parties. It might lead to Labor and Liberal getting their act together before the next election."

In New England, dairy farmer Karrie Whitten, who voted for the Coalition, was unhappy Mr Windsor had sided with Labor.

Ms Whitten said she thought the government's $42 billion broadband plan would be largely a waste of money and that far less could be invested with as good or better result.

"A lot of work needs to be done to ensure broadband is done right and done properly," Ms Whitten said.

"I'm not very happy at all," was how another farmer viewed the decision.

Retiree John Norman warned that Mr Windsor would be penalised at the next election for his decision.

"I reckon there will be a backlash," Mr Norman said.

But there were many differing views in the divided electorate.

Jan Huyshe, who voted Labor, said she welcomed Mr Windsor's decision and hoped it would lead to improved medical care in the region.

"My husband and I are both elderly and retired people, and we had to wait six months to see a GP," Ms Huyshe said.

Tamworth farmer Chas Latter said the long-term tensions between Tony Windsor and the Nationals went a long way to sealing the Coalition's fate in yesterday's historic decision.

Mr Latter was one of the 71 per cent of voters in the New England electorate who supported Mr Windsor at the polls, and one of the many frustrated the MP had bucked local sentiment and backed the ALP in the staunchly conservative seat.

"I just thought he would have come across to the Coalition, but he and Barnaby Joyce are not on each other's Christmas card list," Mr Latter said.

"The ALP didn't win this election, Barnaby Joyce lost it."

Mr Latter, who lives on a grain farm just outside the northern NSW city of Tamworth, said surging electricity prices and the mining tax were key issues in the electorate.

"In the past 12 months, power has gone through the roof here," he said.

"I'm also opposed to the mining tax - we're all going to pay somewhere down the line."

And Mr Latter was unhappy over the Labor Party's axing of former prime minister Kevin Rudd, describing it as "poor form".

Announcing his plan to support the government in Canberra yesterday, Mr Windsor cited Labor's stance on climate change and a national broadband network as key reasons to back the incumbent administration.

But Mr Latter said he did not agree with either position. He was sceptical of the impact of human behaviour on climate change, and satisfied with his current internet connection.

"The jury's still out on climate change. It's been happening for years - 50 years ago they were talking about temperatures falling," he said.

Bob Katter may have backed the losing side in Canberra yesterday, but among locals in his home town of Charters Towers there was still fierce support for the maverick independent's position, including from livestock agent Jim Geaney.

Local businessman Alan Silverwood, who owns the historic Miners Cottage in the town, said that although Mr Katter's decision put him on the "outer edge" of politics, the electorate of Kennedy would remain loyal.

"He was thinking of Kennedy the whole time. We appreciate him for that," Mr Silverwood said, sipping a beer in one of the town's pubs.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: ANTHONY KLAN, SARAH ELKS