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Labor wins Dunkley despite Lib swing

Liberal Party deputy leader Sussan Ley has warned Anthony Albanese “we are coming for you” after Labor hung on in the Dunkley by-election in Melbourne.

Dunkley by-election: First results show swing to Liberals

Liberal Party deputy leader Sussan Ley has warned Anthony Albanese “we are coming for you” after Labor hung on in the Dunkley by-election in Melbourne.

Candidate Nathan Conroy conceded defeat just after 9pm after calling Labor’s candidate Jodie Belyea.

“I am Jodie Belyea,’’ the Labor candidate told a crowd of supporters as she claimed victory on Saturday night.

She quipped she was now the “second most important Jodie in the PM’s life” and thanked him for supporting her, “a rookie”.

“I’m a mum from Frankston with two dogs and a mortgage, and I’m gonna be your member for Dunkley,’’ she said.

“I am not a career politician. I’m someone who wants to make a difference for this great community and further afield.

“In December last year, we lost our dear friend Peta Murphy. Peta was a fierce advocate for our community, and we miss her every day.”

The result was billed as a referendum on Mr Albanese’s personal popularity in the wake of the Voice result and his decision to overhaul the Stage 3 tax cuts.

The two party-preferred swing was forecast to be close to 4 per cent, which will shift Dunkley to marginal seat territory.

Labor claims win in Dunkley by-election. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie
Labor claims win in Dunkley by-election. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley said the result delivered a strong message to the Labor Party.

“Today the people of Dunkley have sent Anthony Albanese a really strong message,’’ she said.

“And it’s not Happy Birthday. It’s ‘do something about the cost of living crisis!’!”

“So, like I said, ‘Mr Prime Minister. We’re just getting started’.

“’We are coming after you in Aston. In Higgins. In McEwen. In my home state of New South Wales. I’m just over the border. We are coming after you in Paramatta. In Gilmore, Bennelong’.”

“A swing of 3-4% would net us 11 seats. That is enough in the next election to form

government.

“I want to say we will work bloody hard to get your vote next time. We will do it.”

Liberal candidate Nathan Corony also paid tribute to the legacy of the late Labor MP Peta Murphy whose devastating death sparked the by-election.

“Her legacy is alive and well because she was a strong community advocate,’’ he said.

“And I tell you, I congratulated her, because if she does well our community does well and our country does well.”

Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton holds a press conference with Liberal candidate for the Dunkley by election, Nathan Conroy. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling
Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton holds a press conference with Liberal candidate for the Dunkley by election, Nathan Conroy. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Game on - Libs hail early swing

Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan said the swing to the Liberals - even if it fell short of winning the election - was a good omen.

“It’s game on,” he said.

“I think we will have a real shot at making the next election very competitive.”

But Labor frontbencher Stephen Conroy said the swing to the Liberals was now looking at closer to 3 to 4 per cent.

Sky News Peta Credlin said that the result was likely to be “close but no cigar” for the Liberals.

“It doesn’t matter what the margin is. This is a message for Labor,” she said.

“This is a wake up call.”

Both the ABC and Sky News are now forecasting a swing of 4 per cent to the Liberals - a strong result but one that would fall short of the 6.3 per cent it needs to flip the seat.

Mr Conroy takes to the stand at the press conference. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling
Mr Conroy takes to the stand at the press conference. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Labor’s primary vote appears to be holding up but the Greens vote is crashing with a significant swing to the Liberal Party.

Around 7.30pm the swing was down to 4.1 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.

Speaking on Sky News, Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie said Liberal candidate Nathan Conroy had run a strong campaign but the Liberal Party was “not getting ahead of ourselves”.

“Regardless of whether Nathan wins tonight there is a swing on,’’ Sky News commentator Peta Credlin said.

“There’s a big message here for Labor.”

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told Sky News that it was early days but that the ALP’s primary vote was holding up.

“She has run a cracking campaign,’’ he said.

“We will go away and really analyse this result. By-elections are many things but they are an opportunity to listen.”

Earlier, Mr Marles told ABC News he was “very nervous” and was always “pessimistic” about elections.

“The tax policy we’ve put in place has a bigger life than this by-election,” Mr Marles said.

“This by-election isn’t the be all or end all when it comes to tax cuts.”

What sparked the by-election

The by-election was sparked following the death of Peta Murphy, who passed away after a battle with breast cancer.

The Coalition has been running hard on the issue of immigration detainees and cost of living.

Mr Albanese described the Dunkley by-election on Saturday the election “no one wanted” as it was triggered by the death of the popular local MP.

“We’ve put forward, I think, very clearly the best candidate in Jodie Belyea who will carry on the work of the magnificent Peta Murphy,” he said.

“No one in this local community wanted this by-election because Peta Murphy was taken from us too soon at age 50 sadly.

“One of the things Peta did was recruit Jodie Belyea to the Labor Party to carry on her legacy of strong advocacy and working for this local community, and I’m very confident that Jodie Belyea will do just that.

“She’s a local mum. She’s not a career politician. She’s got a mortgage, she understands this local community.”

Mr Albanese said it was “in the hands” of voters to decide who would take the seat”.

Speaking tonight on Sky News, Peta Credlin said the Liberal Party was “in the hunt” but stopped short of forecasting a win for the Coalition.

Former Labor frontbencher Stephen Conroy said while Victoria was not always a good state for the Liberal Party that Dunkley was a good seat for Peter Dutton.

The Liberal Party have been throwing everything at the fight with deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley under fire over a social media post.

“If you live in Frankston and you’ve got a problem with Victorian women being assaulted by foreign criminals, vote against Labor,” she said on X.

“If you do not want to see Australian women being assaulted by foreign criminals, vote against Labor.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his fiancee Jodie Haydon greet Labor candidate Jodie Belyea at Derinya Primary School in Frankston South. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his fiancee Jodie Haydon greet Labor candidate Jodie Belyea at Derinya Primary School in Frankston South. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

Mr Albanese said it was clear the post should be removed.

“I find it extraordinary that Ms Ley has refused to delete that tweet,” he said.

“Yesterday showed the problem … if you look at the questions asked in parliament, it says everything about the problem with this 24-hour cycle where you just have a fear campaign about everything and a solution for nothing. And that is what Peter Dutton does. It is all about scare campaigns.”

Education Minister Jason Clare told Ms Ley that the late Peta Murphy, who held the seat of Dunkley until her death in ­December, would have been “disgusted” by her behaviour.

“If Peta was still alive today, she’d be disgusted with you and that tweet that you put out yesterday. Police have withdrawn the charges, and you should delete that tweet,” he said.

Originally published as Labor wins Dunkley despite Lib swing

Read related topics:Anthony Albanese

Original URL: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/peter-dutton-is-in-the-hunt-in-the-byelection-for-laborheld-seat-of-dunkley/news-story/5b815a38aea779c2c89fdbf96fe1ab90