Cindy McLeish has long been interested in being a member of parliament.
With only a few weeks to work on it, the 48-year-old had her wish granted on Saturday, beating Labor's Ben Hardman by a swing of more than eight per cent to claim the regional seat of Seymour in the Victorian state election.
She became the Liberal candidate for the seat just three weeks out from the poll after the party's original choice, Mike Laker, quit after a race scandal.
Speaking from her farm in Yea that has been in the family for 160 years, Ms McLeish says boosting health services will be among her top priorities once in parliament.
"General access to health services in the region is pretty ordinary," she told AAP on Sunday.
"The health services is something I really want to get stuck into quickly."
The seat of Seymour, north of Melbourne, was hit hard by the Black Saturday bushfires.
It includes the towns of Yea, Wallan, Kilmore, Marysville and Kinglake.
"Bushfire response was very poor. They (locals) were angry and very disappointed because there was a lot that could be done and still needs to be done," Ms McLeish said.
Ms McLeish said she wants to boost infrastructure in rapidly growing areas such as Wallan and was keen to ensure public transport improves in Healesville.
She said the north-south pipeline got locals' blood boiling and that was part of the reason voters had turfed out Labor.
"That really got many, many locals against the Labor Party," she said.
"When you have been in for 11 years you've got to justify why you should still be there."
Ms McLeish will stay in her current Elsternwick residence in inner Melbourne while parliament sits but plans to make her Yea property the family's permanent home.
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