Janelle Saffin is expected to be officially confirmed as the new MP for Lismore this week, marking a successful return to politics for the former Page Federal MP who was also an MLC from 1995 to 2003. She spoke to the Lismore App this week about the significance of the win, how this latest campaign was different for the veteran politician and what her priorities are for the next four years.

You were the first woman to be the MP for Page and now you’re the first woman to be the MP for Lismore as well. What does that mean to you?

I wear that mantle, and enjoy it but for me being the member for the Lismore electorate is the best. It's an honor. Whether you’re a man or  woman or whatever gender, it doesn't matter, the role is more important. People do highlight it of course, because it's a first, so that's lovely.

As a society it indicates that we've really come a long way and people will elect someone irrespective of their gender now. Which is a good thing. Although some parties still have a long way to go.

How many campaigns have you run now and what was different or interesting about this one?

It must be eight that I’ve been the candidate and I've worked on a lot more.

The only thing that was really different was social media. There was a lot more Facebook. Facebook provides immediate contact with thousands of people that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to make contact with.

I think traditional media is still important but with social media you can talk directly to people and get responses back. Some people would ask questions. For example when I made an announcement around the arts, somebody asked: "But what about health and what about education?" So I'm able to answer directly.

Social media also allows for a lack of respect. If we're talking to people face-to-face or on the telephone or we're writing a letter, we tend to observe protocols around how we engage with each other whereas Facebook grew up without those protocols and I see that as problematic.

We all think things, but do we necessarily say it in a letter or face to face? With Facebook sometimes we just fire off like that. And also there are trolls who are just there to dog everything you say and do. It doesn't matter. I could announce everybody in the Lismore electorate is getting $1 million and they'd still find a problem.

I think it's a problem from the point of view of society. Respect is the basis for relationships, whether they're personal, political, professional, broader across societies. So I see it as damaging.

This is the first time you’ve sat in opposition. How do you think that will be different to your previous experiences?

It will be different in that when I went to parliament the other times I was able to say: ‘Well these are the policies’ and roll them out but my previous experience in government means I have experience and successes working with the opposition and working in a bipartisan and multipartisan way and I'll be able to bring that to bear.

The premier and the deputy premier have made it clear that election commitments they gave will be honored and I'll obviously advocate for the commitments I made. There's a few of them that are the same or similar, and the other ones I'll advocate that we get them implemented. So I'll just work hard at it and I'll develop relationships with the government and the ministers and the public service, who deliver a lot of the things.

What leverage do you have when you’re trying to get things done for the electorate?

Even where you’re in opposition, there's still respect and regard for the Members of Parliament. Any government has that respect and regard because you're the member and you are the voice, a big voice, for your community. So any government, even if it's an opposition one to my party, will still have that basic regard and respect. I expect that to prevail. It's like a protocol.

That means I can get access to advocate for us. I work extremely hard at developing those good relationships. I seriously believe that the premier and the deputy premier will not want to ignore the Lismore Electorate or starve us of things that we need.

What are your primary objectives now you’re the MP for Lismore?

I'll work to advance the commitments I gave during the election and the commitments that the Nationals made. I’ll keep them on the agenda.

I’ll represent people in the best and strongest way that I can on all of the issues that arise day to day. You can't know them all, but they come up frequently. So try and make sure the people feel they've got a voice.

Even though we've now got more of a progressive vote I have to represent everyone and I will and try and bring the community together. I put it this way, I'm your servant and I serve, but I'm also your community leader and I have to be able to try and lead to say: Even though this electorate is diverse, we need these things to happen, so let's get some basic understanding and agreement and go forward together, particularly with what I call it the bread and butter basics.

I think we're all clear schools, hospitals, jobs, the economy, our CBDs, our roads, tourism, arts, all of that are priorities. But then there’s the environment and we really get some agreement on that. Like climate change for instance. You know, we've still got some people who don't believe in it or deny it: it's just a fact. It's a scientific evidence based fact and what it means is a lot more renewables and a transition, that's not going to hurt us. That's only going to benefit us. We'll have cheaper and cleaner power and we'll have cleaner rivers. People also do want to protect the koalas and our farming community, our agricultural base, how can we best support them? So I'll be very mindful of how I work with everyone.

Do you have any priorities, specific things that you think are more urgent than others?

All those things are urgent but the transition to renewables and climate change, they're clearly issues that need to be tackled now. We've had such a debate over so many years and I've lived through a lot of that debate and I think, can't we just stop debating it? Look how long we debated same sex marriage and then ended up passing it. Climate change does impact on us all and let's just get on with it.

What KPIs would you like to be judged on? What should people judge you on at the end of your term?

Two things. One is how I acted for people, how I represented them strongly, how I listened to them, how I was able to work across our communities by bringing people together. So my whole approach and my advocacy. And the second one would be looking at some of the deliverables. Some things I was able to help us at a local level rollout, like more nurses.

The Labor Party committed to a safe patient to nurse midwife ratio, which is what the nurses and midwives wanted. The government didn't commit to that but they committed to more nurses. So can we still at least get some extra nurses and would the government consider at some point committing to ratios but overall really looking at what I was able to advance here across the things that we need, the frontline services.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.