MORE election coverage from the Mid-North Coast

MELINDA Pavey has recorded a thumping victory in the seat of Oxley, and will become the first female Member to represent the conservative Mid North Coast electorate.

Early counting has put Ms Pavey comfortably ahead of her nearest challengers, Labor's Fran Armitage and The Greens' Carol Vernon.

The result caps a Lazarus-like turnaround for Ms Pavey who had been given a virtually unwinnable position on The Nationals' senate ticket.

That was seen as a snub for the long serving Member of the NSW Legislative Council, however a lifeline appeared unexpectedly last year when then Deputy Premier and incumbent Oxley MP, Andrew Stoner, announced he would not re-contest the seat for private reasons.

That opened the path for Ms Pavey to switch to the Lower House after she won pre-selection.

Oxley was one of the first seats to be 'called', and a delighted Ms Pavey told Fairfax Regional Media she was busy cooking sausages, chicken kebabs and rissoles for the party volunteers at the 'after party' in Kempsey.

Early counting for Oxley was in keeping with a statewide swing of 10 per cent against the Coalition, however that retains the seat as a blue ribband Nationals' hold.

"I love this region. We have four magnificent valleys and they actually have a lot in common," Ms Pavey said.

She congratulated her main fellow candidates, Ms Armitage and Ms Vernon - "both very good women. We have different ideas of course but we learn from one another".

Ms Pavey said the key messages she had from the campaign was that residents wanted "jobs and opportunities, in agriculture and in industry. People want the chance to flourish".

A onetime Sydney radio journalist, Ms Pavey became the Nationals youngest NSW MP when she was elected to the Upper House in 2002 at age 33.

Now resident of Urunga, Ms Pavey served as Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health in the Baird Government, and campaigned for this election on a $50 million redevelopment for Macksville Hospital.