 Hodgkinson was elected to NSW Parliament at the subsequent 1999 election.Between 2003 and 2011 Hodgkinson held a range of shadow ministerial responsibilities including Fair Trading and Small Business, Tourism, Major Events, Community Services, Families and Child Safety, Rural Affairs, and Natural Resource Management.In 2007, a substantial redistribution of electorate boundaries saw her constituency base move from Goulburn, Yass and Tumut to Cowra, Cootamundra, Yass and Young.