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MIA farmer and water advocate Helen Dalton will be the candidate for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party for the upcoming by-election in state seat on Murray on August 14. The by-election will be held in Murray (which takes in the MIA region) due to the resignation of current member, Adrian Piccoli of the National Party. Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party MLC Robert Brown will be introducing Ms Dalton at a media conference in Griffith tomorrow. Ms Dalton has said she will be pushing for the seat of Murray to get a better deal from the NSW Government on key issues of concern. “Adrian sold out rural communities on health, education and water.” “The people of Murray elected Adrian for a period of four years, not just until he found a better gig along with a pumped up ministerial pension.” Related: Helen Dalton talking water The National Party have held the seat of Murray since 1984. However, a recent Fairfax Media MIA poll has revealed that over 81 per cent of those who responded would vote for a Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidate, while only 12 per cent would stick with the Nationals. The poll had over 1000 responses, one of the highest response rates ever for a Fairfax Media MIA survey. Ms Dalton stood for the seat of Murray in 2015, winning 18 per cent of the vote. Adrian Piccoli won the electorate with 56 per cent of the overall vote. In the 2016 Orange by-election, Shooters, Fishers and Farmers shocked the Nationals by taking a large chunk of the vote in a traditionally safe seat. Sportsbet have the Nationals as slight favourites to the seat of Murray: Nationals $1.72 Shooters Farmers and Fishers $2.10 Related: Opposition parties circle Piccoli’s seat The Nationals, Labor and the Greens have all confirmed that they will be putting forward people to run in Murray, but no candidate has been announced. The parties will have until September 25 to nominate their candidates. The by-election will cost taxpayers $720,000. More to come...

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