She told journalists she'd been invited by Mr Joyce and was happy to come to Tamworth, the first time she'd ever been in the country music capital and the biggest voting bloc in the New England electorate. Mrs Rinehart did admit she had zero mining or resources interests in the region. Earlier that day, it wasn't the celebrity of the Rinehart backing for Joyce that occupied much of the political landscape, it was the spectre of what had gone before. Mr Joyce moved from the Senate to contest the seat of New England for the Nationals and was guaranteed the win after sitting independent member Tony Windsor decided not to recontest. The independent power broker in the last government held sway for 12 years as the local federal member and before that nearly as many years in state parliament.

While just over 10 weeks ago locals were looking to a real stoush and a bonza of a battle between Mr Windsor and the former Queensland senator most of the puff went out of the fight when Mr Windsor retired – and Mr Joyce was basically left looking around for someone else to spar with. In the end nine candidates lined up for yesterday's poll, among them two new Independents looking to put up a big show. But the star has been Mr Joyce, although there's been plenty of suspicions among the progressives in the electorate that the man who can strangle a sentence in a single comment and has his sights set on the Nationals leadership after Warren Truss moves on, might just end up to be an absentee member. There are many who fear this election will deliver the Member for Barnaby rather than the new member for New England.

Mr Joyce denies he will be an absentee member even if, as expected, he lands a ministerial position. He was fully expecting last night to be called to a Coalition leadership team meeting perhaps as early as Sunday. He's campaigned tirelessly for nearly four months, crisscrossing the huge tablelands and plains region from dawn to dusk, trying to convince voters he's a legitimate heir to the once-Nationals stronghold. He's had to endure the Second Choice Joyce tag too given the spectacular fall from grace of the Nationals' first pick draft candidate Richard Torbay earlier this year under suspicion and reportedly, ICAC investigation. Mr Torbay fell to earth and Mr Joyce was parachuted in. Mr Joyce, who grew up in the region, yesterday voted at the tiny Woolbrook school, 65 kilometres north east of Tamworth. He was the captain of the primary school there and his parents still live not too far away from that polling booth that last election delivered just 163 voters.

But Mr Joyce added a few hundred kilometres for the rest of polling day and by mid afternoon after tracking across about 20 different centres in an electorate of 60,000 square kilometres, he was back in Tamworth. Mr Joyce was ''quietly confident but not cocky''. ''I'm just so happy the campaign is over but I have tried to do a big city, small town and remote area each day, but it has been tiring,'' Mr Joyce said. Loading ''The mood has been good. I think people will give us the benefit of the doubt but you've always got to be extremely careful you don't sound egotistical, otherwise people will take a chip out of you.''

At polling booths the mood was pretty subdued given the bright sunny day – but around the region most pundits were more interested in the rash of grand finals footy battles being played out.