When voters elect an independent ...

Mr Windsor provides information that indicates he is more locally focused than the others but he is keen to show that local issues translate across the whole state of New South Wales.

What is important is that the independents are seen by their constituents as stable “delegates” rather than “representatives”.

This means they take their constituency issues to parliament and argue for them, rather than operating on their own or on behalf of their party.

When voters elect an independent, they do so in the belief that they will get someone who will act on their behalf.

In seats where an independent is elected, individuals, community groups and local media have direct access to their MPs - a prospect citizens in most party-elected seats can only dream about. In fact local media - town newspapers, local and community radio and regional television - provide citizens with far more valuable information and far less drama than the nationals and metros.

Before an election they provide space and time for all local candidates and after the event they continue to investigate and scrutinise the actions of the elected member.

Most local media reporters and broadcasters would be laughed out of town if they attempted to take a theatrical position such as speculating that the close vote is an appeal for electoral reform.

It may be that compulsory preferential voting is not the best system in the world, nor is the Hare-Clarke system, nor the system of proportional representation, but this election result was not, as Julia Gillard argues and the mainstream media repeats, a referendum on the electoral system.

It was, however, an election in which citizens formed opinions about candidates and voted according to how they believed those candidates would behave.

At least this was the case in the electorates in which independents have been elected and in which they are now building relationships and framing their positions on forming government.

In this the independents must work across two levels, making the framing and relationship building far more complex than they appear on the surface.

They must balance the wishes of their electorates - the citizens, community groups and local media - with the desires of the nation.