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TROY Grant will be returned as the Member for Dubbo, earning another four-year term in State Parliament.
Mr Grant received a phone call from Country Labor candidate Stephen Lawrence at close to 8pm on Saturday night. Mr Lawrence conceded defeat in the election.
Mr Grant had a strong lead ahead of his rivals shortly after counting started when polls closed at 6pm.
He has maintained that lead throughout the evening as the counting continues.
In the seat of Barwon Kevin Humphries is also set to be re-elected. With 23,000 votes now counted in the seat, Mr Humphries holds a lead of 50.53 per cent.
At 9.20pm, with over 20,000 votes counted, Mr Grant held a 56.68 per cent lead in the first preference votes.
Labor's Luke Foley conceded the election, but the Coalition looks set to take a hit as it moves into the next term of parliament. In the third hour of counting it looked as though the Coalition would retain 52 seats to Labor's 33 seats during the next term.