Nationals’ Vince Catania takes lead in North West Central seat called for Labor on election night

Nationals member for North West Central Vince Catania’s chances of holding his seat are firming up, with the incumbent now more than 250 votes ahead with more postal ballots to count. Mr Catania took the lead in his seat yesterday as postal ballots, mostly from Carnarvon, coming in backed heavily by those who voted early. It was a far cry from election night, when the race was called for Labor as Cherie Sibosado saw a swing of more than 15 per cent towards her on the day. Both members increased their primary vote, but by the end of counting on Saturday Ms Sibosado held a lead of a little more than 100 votes. As of Monday morning Mr Catania was 255 votes ahead with 58 per cent counted. The swing to Labor is now a more modest eight per cent and Mr Catania’s primary vote is up five per cent, compared to Ms Sibosado’s 13.8 per cent swing. The Liberals and One Nation have both had eight per cent swings against them, and the Greens are down two per cent. Results so far showed the electorate’s Pilbara towns including Onslow, Pannawonica, Paraburdoo and Tom Price heavily favoured Labor, while coastal towns Carnarvon and Exmouth backed Nationals. Kalbarri was included in the electorate for the first time, where residents were evenly split between the two parties. Alannah MacTiernan joined Ms Sibosado in Carnarvon on Saturday where they “cracked open the Moët” despite awaiting final results. Mr Catania has held the seat since 2008 when he was elected as a Labor candidate, before he defected and joined the National Party in 2009. He said the key issues in the electorate were worker’s accommodation, housing, and being able to have the infrastructure needed to cope with the amount of people visiting the region. “Worker’s accommodation, housing, lack of affordable housing, lack of land, cost of flights and crime are the major issues, as well as no planning for the future when it comes to making sure that our seniors are looked after, when it comes to aged care in places like Exmouth and Kalbarri,” he said. Mr Catania said during the campaign, voters expressed concerns about the impact of Labor having “too much control” and losing their regional voice. “Clearly people are concerned about the Labor party having too much control,” he said. Mr Catania promised almost $12 million towards restoring and upgrading Carnarvon’s One Mile Jetty and the OTC Dish and the Space and Technology Museum. Other promises from the Nationals included increasing PATS, restoring royalties for regions, and creating an Aged Care Housing Fund to support seniors. Ms Sibosado pledged to improve health care services and education. Promises included a $14 million upgrade of the Minilya to Exmouth road, $5.3m for Tom Price Hospital development, a $7.8m battery energy storage system in Exmouth, a $6m upgrade to Yardie Creek Road, and $600,000 for the development of a science and technology classroom for Tom Price Senior High School. Ms Sibosado lives in Carnarvon and is a member of a well-known Aboriginal family from Lombardina community north of Broome.