Aston byelection winner, Labor candidate Mary Doyle, once appeared in Neighbours

It turns out the woman behind Labor’s historic Aston election win, Mary Doyle, once played a character in the iconic Aussie soap.

The woman who destroyed Peter Dutton’s hopes of retaining the seat of Aston is a breast cancer survivor and former actor who briefly played a character in Neighbours.

Single mum Mary Doyle delivered the shock victory in her second attempt at running in the seat and coming off the back of securing a big swing at the last federal election.

A triumphant Ms Doyle took to the stage amid wild scenes from supporters and an introduction from Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles.

“You guys, wow,” she said.

“I am Mary Doyle. I’m a suburban mum and I’ve lived in the outer eastern suburbs for more than 35 years and as of tonight, I guess I’ll be your next Member for Aston!”

Mary Doyle arrived at Boronia Bowling club to a rousing crowd after winning the Aston by-election. Picture: Tony Gough

A former union organiser who friends say “can belt out a tune” she dropped plenty of musical references in her victory speech referencing the fact the last time Labor held the seat of Aston was when Sinead O’Connor’s Nothing Compares 2U was in the charts.

Her past acting credits confirms she played the role of Amanda Pappas on Neighbours in 2010 for a single episode.

But that wasn’t the first time she appeared, she debuted in 2009 in a “bit part” as a friend of Angela Scott.

More recently she has appeared in television advertisements as an office worker in an NBN ad, a Coles customer in a Coles ad and pedestrian in a Suzuki commercial.

Ms Doyle appeared as Amanda Pappas in an episode of Neighbours.

But before she got into politics Ms Doyle worked in the performing arts and as union organiser with the Financial Services Unions and the ACTU. She has also worked as an organiser with the NTEU and as a stakeholder relations specialist for a super fund.

At 25, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, an experience she said taught her the importance of sickness benefits and healthcare.

Raised in Echuca, Victoria, Doyle lives in the nearby seat of Deakin.

She told voters she was focused on “easing the pressure on families and helping households manage their budgets”, as well as being a politician who understood her constituents‘ struggles.

“We’ve got a lot of lawyers and barristers in Parliament already, especially men with that background,” she said.

Ms Doyle also campaigned at the last election for boosting funding for Medicare and aged care.

Mary Doyle secured a win for the history books on Saturday night. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Ascui

“Over the past eight years funding has continued to be reduced to medical services and that’s a real worry from what I gather from talking to people in the community,” she said.

“Everyone should have access to medical treatment when they need it and this is something that I would fight for. I know myself, I had cancer many years ago, that it’s really important for people who suffer from ailments such as that to have decent health care.”

Amid wild applause she admitted on Saturday night that she went into the contest as an underdog.

“I think even our most optimistic true believers knew that I was the underdog in this campaign,‘’ she said.

“What we were trying to do hadn’t been done for 100 years. And Aston hasn’t been Liberal since Sinead O’Connor’s Nothing Compares 2 U.”

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said Ms Doyle had delivered the Labor Party a victory for the history books.

“So soak it up. Not since the 1920 Kalgoorlie by-election has a sitting government won a seat from an opposition in a by-election. But tonight, Mary Doyle has done just that.”

“We are going to work tirelessly to see our recognition of our First Nations people through a Voice to Parliament referendum later this year and when that happens it will be one of the great unifying moments for our nation.”

Aston was previously held by the Liberal party’s Alan Tudge since 2010. The ALP last held the seat between 1984 and 1990 during the Hawke Government.

Originally published as Aston byelection winner, Labor candidate Mary Doyle, once appeared in Neighbours