Hawkesbury councillor Sarah Richards confirmed as Liberal pick to take on MP Susan Templeman

Hawkesbury councillor Sarah Richards has been confirmed as the Liberal Party’s federal candidate for the seat of Macquarie where she will take on sitting Labor MP Susan Templeman.

The Federal election date has not yet been announced but it has to be held before May.

We’re told Prime Minister Scott Morrison will be visiting the Hawkesbury in the next two weeks to lend support to Ms Richards in her run for the seat.

Ms Richards stood at the last general election, in 2019, and narrowly lost to Ms Templeman by a couple of hundred votes. She also previously lost when she contested the Federal seat of Reid in 2004.

Macquarie is the country’s most marginal seat.

Ms Richards has only last week been re-elected back onto Hawkesbury Council. Should she win the Federal seat, those who voted for her to represent them on Council won’t be seeing her for long in the 12-seat Council chamber as she will have to step down if she wins Macquarie.

Were that to happen it will lead to a costly Hawkesbury-wide re-election for that one Council seat, and we will all go to the polls again, or councillors may decide to pick the thirteenth person – that will likely depend on who that thirteenth person is and whether they will be likely to support the majority on Council, but there will have to be a councillor vote on that.

If Ms Richards does takes her Council seat on January 11, questions may be asked about where her priorities lie, as she would potentially have to split her time between Council issues and Federal election campaigning.

Labor MP Susan Templeman at North Richmond Community Centre this week as she campaigned for an emergency centre west of the river

Ms Richards says she was inspired to run for the Federal seat a second time, following her experience with the Black Summer Bushfires that tore through the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains. “Watching members of our local community turn up day after day during the Gosper’s Mountain Bushfire made me so proud to be a part of this amazing area,” said Ms. Richards. “It really would be an honour for me to be elected to represent these incredible people.” She also joined the Hawkesbury Rural Fire Service as a communication officer. In the media release put out by the Liberal Party it says she successfully fought to secure funding for the ‘Hawkesbury River Third Crossing.’ “If elected I want to keep fighting to protect this pristine environment and the history and heritage that exists within the Hawkesbury and the Blue Mountains areas,” Richards said. Ms Richards also firmly believes she is the “right person” to champion tougher social media laws to protect children from online bullying. “I have school-aged children that are heavily involved in this community through sports like rugby and netball. I believe I can relate to other parents in Macquarie who want to see protections put in place so their children aren’t harassed online,” Ms Richards said.

Ms Richards said she wants to advocate for seniors’ health care and for veterans; to ensure they receive both health and career support, post their service. “I have enjoyed serving the people of Hawkesbury as a councillor and I am honoured for the opportunity to serve the community at a federal level. I want to be a politician to achieve good results for my community. My desire and my mantra is to deliver, not delay,” she says.

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