John has served his party well and leaves at the top, at a time of his choosing.

From his start in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly on 26 March 2011, to tomorrow’s Nationals party room meeting, he has been a forthright advocate for regional New South Wales.

During his political tenure, John was never afraid to put the issues of regional people first and accept the political consequences of doing so.

As a former carpenter, John took essential life knowledge into a political career that gave him the capacity to understand people away from the stultifying atmospherics of Parliament.

He was not a cookie cutter politician and I think that was the key to his success.