Morrison says Liberals could still claim Wentworth victory as new postal vote count announced
DAVE Sharma says it would have been “more helpful” if Malcolm Turnbull had publicly supported his campaign for the seat of Wentworth, which remains on a knife’s edge.
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DAVE Sharma says it would have been “more helpful” if Malcolm Turnbull had publicly supported his campaign in Wentworth.
Mr Sharma told Sky News he was in touch with the former PM regularly throughout his campaign and that “whatever he was willing to provide was helpful”.
“Whatever more he would have been willing to provide would have been even more helpful, no doubt,” Mr Sharma said.
But Mr Sharma said he understood the position Mr Turnbull was in and the turmoil he faced after being dumped as leader by his party.
He said he believed the final result in the seat would be close, and he was “in the hands of the voters”.
The Australian Electoral Commission has stopped counting for the night.
The Morrison government’s hopes of clinging to Wentworth have been dealt a blow after an error in the counting at Bondi Beach handed independent candidate Kerryn Phelps an extra 680 votes.
The high-profile independent now holds a commanding lead of 1862, making it near impossible for the government to keep its one-seat majority
Prime Minister Scott Morrison holds out hope Mr Sharma could still snatch a win in the traditional Liberal Party stronghold.
Mr Morrison told reporters on Sunday the result was not final and would depend on the postal vote count.
Dr Phelps said this afternoon it was a “white knuckle ride” and her team was holding its breath for the result after celebrating victory last night.
Holding our breath for the AEC count. This is a white knuckle ride.
— Prof Kerryn Phelps AM (@drkerrynphelps) October 21, 2018
Whatever the outcome, I am enormously proud of the work of my volunteers and campaign team. #WentworthVotes
After acknowledging defeat last night - and facing the biggest swing in Australian by-election history - Mr Morrison declared this morning: “The bell hasn’t rung yet.”
“I have been around politics for a long time. And you always wait until the last vote is counted,” he said.
He added that the gap narrowing was “not an unexpected result” and was “no surprise”, despite his comments last night to Liberal party faithful in Wentworth acknowledging the defeat as a “tough day”.
Mr Morrison said he had qualified his remarks last night be saying there were lots of votes still to count.
Dr Phelps achieved an unprecedented swing of more than 20 per cent against Liberal candidate Dave Sharma in Mr Turnbull’s former seat last night.
But as counting continued, the former boss of the Australian Medical Association’s lead narrowed to 884 votes this morning.
MORE: LIBERALS GO INTO MINORITY GOVERNMENT
At 4pm, she was ahead 50.81 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.
If the postal votes continue to favour Mr Sharma, and with more than 5000 still to come in, he could still win.
“Further postal votes will arrive in coming days and will be processed and counted,” the AEC said in a statement over social media at midday.
ABC election analyst Antony Green, who called the by-election for Phelps in less than 90 minutes last night, believes the vote will be “clearer or closer” tonight.
It’s understood there may be a discrepancy in the results published for Bondi Beach, Bellevue Hill and Vaucluse, where Phelps received lower preference flows from other candidates than in other seats.
Mr Green also noted on social media that a Phelps victory was now uncertain.
“The difference between on the day voting and voting in advance is wider than I’ve ever seen at an election,” he said.
“In conversation with very senior party people today, they have the same opinion.”
After much digging around, I've worked out the following. The AEC is currently re-counting the Bondi Beach, Bellevue Hill and Vaucluse polling places. At 3pm they will begin a count of and additional 1,200 postal votes. The result will be clearer or closer by tonight.
— Antony Green (@AntonyGreenABC) October 21, 2018
Within minutes, AEC clarified the “fresh scrutiny” was not a recount but standard checks that occur at all elections.
The AEC earlier confirmed it was conducting a recount of postal ballots.
'Fresh scrutiny' of votes counted last night also well underway today. Polling places votes undergoing this check include Bondi Beach, Double Bay, Bellevue Hill, Padd'n Central, Darling Pt & Bronte. These are NOT recounts–also happens all seats at fed elections by law #Wentworth
— AEC (@AusElectoralCom) October 21, 2018
Mr Morrison admitted this morning that Wentworth voters had expressed outrage at Mr Turnbull’s ousting and vowed to learn from the message, but he refused to acknowledge defeat.
“I have said very clearly, as leader of the Liberal Party, as Prime Minister in a Liberal-National government, that as leader you must take responsibility for the anger and the outrage that Australians, in particular in Wentworth, have expressed,” he told reporters in Sydney.
“I take that on the chin. I will turn up on the good days, I will turn up on the bad days. I will ensure that at all times we will stand by what we believe as Liberals and we will take the party forward.”
Mr Morrison added he would fight until the final bell and “that bell has not rung yet”.
He also confirmed Malcolm Turnbull knocked back approaches from Mr Sharma and a number of Liberal MPs for his support during the Wentworth by-election.
“Quite a number of us asked for that support, not necessarily in the form of a letter, there are many other ways in which people can choose to express their support,” Mr Morrison told reporters.
“There were even approaches made by Dave himself. What impact they would have had, ultimately, is for others to judge.”
Dr Phelps did a victory lap with multiple television interviews this morning before her lead began to narrow.
If she does win, the Prime Minister will lose his one-seat majority in the lower house and will need crossbench support to hold onto government and to pass legislation.
Dr Phelps refused to guarantee confidence and supply for the Morrison Government, today, saying: “It would be careless to say how I would vote one way or the other until I understood the context and actually saw the motion.”
“I think we need to see things on a case-by-case basis.
“I’ll be looking at legislation and as I’ve said before, I’ll support good legislation, reject bad legislation and try to negotiate better outcomes for the Australian people.”
She agreed voters had punished the government for ousting Mr Turnbull, saying the Liberal Party were “focusing internally on their own factional infighting and who was going to be their leader and completely ignoring these really important issues that the Australian people want the government to focus on their behalf”.
“They weren’t seeing that. They were just seeing self interest.”
If Dr Phelps takes the seat, there will be a crossbench of six members in the House of Representatives with Labor holding 69 seats and the coalition one short of a majority with 75.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison described it as a “tough day” last night and pledged to “listen, learn and accept the blows”.
However he appeared unfazed about the possibility of having to negotiate a minority parliament, as Julia Gillard was forced to after the 2010 election.
“We will work constructively with all of those who sit on the cross bench as we always have,” he said.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND NAURU
Dr Phelps declared victory at 8.15pm last night.
She said she would be setting two priorities — action on climate change and getting asylum seeker children off Nauru.
She may also lend support for a national integrity commission which has been promoted by Labor, the Greens and crossbenchers for some time.
“I was told that this was an impossible task and if we actually won the seat of Wentworth it would be a miracle,” she told supporters.
“My friends, we have made history.
“This win tonight should signal a return of decency, integrity and humanity to the Australian Parliament.”
MORRISON PUTS ON BRAVE FACE
Taking time out from his Invictus duties to deliver a concession speech alongside Mr Sharma, a rattled Mr Morrison last night attempted to put on a brave face.
“I don’t come to you tonight with a vanquished spirit. I come with the indomitable spirit of Liberals around the country,” he told a crowd of supporters at the Double Bay Intercontinental Hotel at the time.
‘CHAOS CAUSED’
The Labor Party last night called on Mr Morrison to go to an early election.
“Morrison is still the Prime Minister but he now leads a minority government,” a spokesman for Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said.
“The swing is so big and historic, the result is disastrous for Morrison.
“Given he said losing Wentworth would cause chaos and unprecedented instability, he should do the right thing for the country and go to an election.”
Independent Bob Katter said he did not want to see the government destabilised or an early election called.
But he said the coalition needed to address the drought, regional development and indigenous health.
Fellow independent Andrew Wilkie said he would not guarantee confidence or supply.
“That will continue to be the case,” Mr Wilkie said.
Disgruntled Liberal MPs pointed the finger at failed leadership contender Peter Dutton’s boosters for the by-election loss.
“The blame for this lies squarely at the feet of anybody who felt it was a good idea to get rid of Malcolm Turnbull,” an angry Liberal backbencher Craig Laundy said.
