Helen Dalton

Helen Jennifer Dalton is an Australian politician and member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since March 2019, representing the electoral district of Murray as a member of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party.

Since her election, Dalton has been a vocal critic of NSW Government water management and alleged under-funding of rural infrastructure and services. She has frequently clashed with government MPs in NSW Parliament, notably Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Water Minister Melinda Pavey, who has labelled Dalton a "disgrace".

Early life and career

Dalton was born in 1959 and raised on a sheep and wheat farm north of Rankin Springs in the Melbergen District.

Dalton studied Education and worked for the New South Wales Department of Education as a primary school teacher from 1981-1987. She owns a family farming business that produces maize, rice, cereals, cotton, beef cattle, wool and fat lambs. In 2007 she was awarded a Nuffield Australia Farming Scholarship.

Political Career

Dalton ran for parliament unsuccessfully in 2015 and 2017 as an independent and for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party, respectively. In March 2019, Dalton won the seat of Murray by a 26.2% swing, breaking 35 years of National Party incumbency.

In her campaign, Dalton presented a plan to address water mismanagement and corruption, argued for a royal commission into the Murray Darling Basin Plan, and pushed for better rural health and hospital services.

She has continued to raise these themes as a state MP. Her maiden speech in NSW Parliament highlighted the rapid decline in service provision and living standards across rural NSW.

Dalton has written a bill to improve transparency on who owns water in NSW If passed, the Bill will force state MPs to declare their water interests, and provide for a public water register allowing the public to search for the names of companies and individuals who own water.

A parliamentary speech Dalton gave on the destruction of family farms across Australia has been viewed more than 330,000 times. She has also criticised excessive foreign ownership of Australian water and farmland.

Personal life

Dalton married in 1984 and has four adult children.