Murray candidates Peta Betts and Helen Dalton on NSW election race

She is talking about why she chose hot pink as her political colour but she could also be referring to her vivid approach to representing a huge swathe of the Riverina from Berrigan to the South Australian border and north to the edge of the outback.

Elected at the last NSW election in 2019, Mrs Dalton entered parliament as a representative of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party.

But the Murray MP split from the party last year over voting on a bill for floodplain harvesting and is now seeking to become the first woman to retain the seat.

The farmer from Melbergen, about an hour's drive north of Griffith, is facing a challenge from the Nationals, who represented the area from 1980 to 2019, and have Edward River mayor Peta Betts as their candidate.

"The National Party are a machine and you would never take them for granted and it was a safe stronghold for 37 years," Mrs Dalton said in response to a question about how she viewed her chances at the election next weekend.

"I'm just working incredibly hard, the campaign team is doing long hours, we'll do the hard yards and see how we go."

Mrs Dalton cites $363 million in funding which has flowed into the electorate in the past four years, compared to $50 million in the previous term under Nationals MPs, as a yardstick for success, saying it showed interest from the incumbent Coalition government which taken the area for granted previously.

She has sought to put Murray in the minds of city-centric MPs, using her primary school teaching skills to give them an understanding of life up to 1000 kilometres away from Sydney.

"They'll say we don't have the rivers in my electorate or rivers that provide irrigation, it's not my issue," Mrs Dalton said.

"And I go 'do you eat?' and 'what are you wearing?', 'I'm wearing cotton', well there you go, or wool, it is your issue, it is everyone's issue."

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But her strident approach attracted has attracted criticism from Nationals, such as Riverina Upper House MP Wes Fang, who accuse Mrs Dalton of being overly negative.

Picking up on that, Ms Betts said she wanted to use her mayoral skills to provide fixes.

"A lot of it is about collaboration, working with all people, all groups and it's about being positive and proactive," Ms Betts said.

"Everybody has problems and issues and that's life to be honest, but it's also to be able to come up with solutions."

However, fellow Edward River councillor Shirlee Burge gave a brutal answer on Ms Betts' approach to teamwork when asked how the Nationals hopeful would fare as an MP.

"A walking disaster," Mrs Burge said.

"She is a sole player, she is not a team player, she is a loner and does not involve and lead her councillors involving everybody."

Ms Betts replied it's "really disappointing to hear that" and said it was "unfair".

Deniliquin-based Nationals senator Perin Davey, who joined Ms Betts at The Border Mail interview disputed Mrs Burge's assessment.

"Contrary to what Mrs Burge said, I actually think Peta is a team player and would join the National Party party room up at state parliament and be a positive and constructive contributor," Senator Davey said.

Mrs Burge said she had an "acrimonious" relationship with Ms Betts in relation to council matters and was upset the Nationals had not committed to investment in upgrading the Deniliquin hospital before the election caretaker period.

This week NSW Regional Health Minister Bronnie Taylor announced the Coalition would spend $106.3 million on the final stage of a hospital upgrade that would see fresh accommodation for health workers and a new two-storey building to bring clinical and support services together.

Mrs Burge said more was needed to improve Deniliquin hospital and with the Labor Opposition not committing to the project promised by the Coalition, her community faced a gloomy outlook.

"We're right back where we started nine years ago," Mrs Burge, who will be handing out how-to-vote cards for Mrs Dalton, said.

With Saturday March 25's election forecast to be tight there is the potential for a hung parliament and Mrs Dalton, if re-elected, being courted to side with the Coalition and Labor.

She acknowledges that scenario and admits she would be prepared to a deal if it meant a splurge on Deniliquin hospital.

"I'm hearing that they will be seeking my support, Labor would and so would (NSW Premier Dominic) Perrottet, so we'll see what the deal is," Mrs Dalton said.

"This is our time where we can get this $150 million hospital here maybe or better roads or the Tooleybuc bridge built, which should be built."

Senator Davey warned if Mrs Dalton entered into any deal with Labor there was likely to be a backlash given that party's water policy.

"Will she side with the party who are prepared to come and buy back all of our water," Senator Davey said.

No doubt water would be central to any negotiations, with Mrs Dalton citing her successful push to have NSW MPs to declare their water investments in pecuniary interest forms as her biggest success alongside having radiotherapy at a new Griffith cancer centre bulkbilled.

Regardless of the statewide result on March 25, the 63 year-old says it will be her final stint if she wins.

"I'm here for eight years, if I can get the next four years....it will be my last term and this will be the term, because it will be a hung parliament, ....where we really will make some gains," Mrs Dalton said.

Among those may be a cashless card for those who use gaming machines at NSW clubs.

Mrs Dalton support for the initiative, which is a policy of the NSW Coalition, has seen her criticised by the clubs industry but she is unequivocal, saying it is need to tackle problem gambling and money laundering.

"I've had people coming into my office, they've lost their homes, lost their jobs they're suicidal, all of those things and for every $1 that the government gets from poker machines, they've got to spend $7 cleaning up the mess, so I'm not going to apologise for speaking out about this," she said.

Border clubs at Barham and Moama have expressed concerns to Koondrook-Barham's The Bridge newspaper, about Victorian tourists not wanting to provide their data to NSW authorities and being ignored by Mrs Dalton.

"Tourist dollars may stay in Victoria, which severely impacts on our little destination that we're trying to grow as a destination for tourism," cluBarham chief executive Jason Wallace said.

Ms Betts said as mayor it was also her experience that it had been hard to meet with Mrs Dalton, even amid last year's flooding in Deniliquin.

"With my council hat on and my mayor's hat on we haven't seen a lot of her, to be truly honest, and I find with my connections with fellow mayors and as I've been campaigning across the electorate that seems to be a current theme," Ms Betts said.

As for cashless cards, Ms Betts would not say she supported them, noting there was "more work and more conversations to be had".

"The cashless card idea may have merit in some circumstances, but it's not the silver bullet and it's certainly not the answer to the gambling problem," she said.

Ms Betts said there was massive difference between how clubs function in Sydney compared to regional areas.

"They put so much back into our communities, they are the reason we have sponsorships for our sporting clubs, it's where we hold all our functions," she said.

Ms Betts, a conveyancer who studied law via Southern Cross University in northern NSW, said she had always been opinionated and wanted to make a difference in the public domain rather than be a "keyboard warrior".

"I'm nobody special, I haven't come from a family of a lot of money," she said.

"I've done it hard, I was a single mum for a long time, I did my law degree by correspondence whilst raising kids as a single mum, so I get how budgeting, time management, all that stuff works.

"That's the reality, the people you are dealing with in your community are real people, so to be able to be on the level and deal with them and understand what's going on you have to be a part."

For Mrs Dalton, a connection to the 110,000 square kilometre electorate comes through consulting "kitchen cabinets".

A similar approach was used by former Independent Indi MP Cathy McGowan, who Mrs Dalton said she speaks to regularly.

While Ms McGowan relied on an orange army, Mrs Dalton hopes pink makes people think of her at the poll, just as Ms Betts wants voters sold on her green and gold team.

Mrs Dalton is $1.50 favourite with a betting firm and Ms Betts $2.50.

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