Australia’s Federal Finance Minister Simon Birmingham is circumspect on the national implications of the weekend New South Wales (NSW) byelection in the coal-rich mining region of Upper Hunter, just north of Sydney. The byelection was watched closely by major political parties keen to see how popular support for the incumbent New South Wales (NSW) state government was tracking, particularly considering its handling of COVID-19 and recent sexual assault allegations against several MPs including retiring Member for Upper Hunter Michael Johnsen. Likewise, the Australian Labor Party (ALP), which polled poorly at the 2019 federal election in the region, was keen to see how voters would respond to the party’s recent attempts to refocus its policy agenda towards its traditional base of mining and blue-collar communities. Ultimately, the Nationals—which have held the seat for over 90 years—retained control (albeit with a marginal drop in votes), while the ALP suffered a major swing …