Federal election day 2022: Battle for Parramatta begins
Labor has claimed victory in Parramatta as party faithful converged on the Collector Hotel in Parramatta to celebrate. Read the latest.
NSW
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Labor has claimed victory in Parramatta where controversial candidate Andrew Charlton has raced away to a convincing lead, holding 54.40 per cent of the two-party preferred vote ahead of Liberal hopeful Maria Kovacic who trails with 45.60 per cent.
At the Collector Hotel in Parramatta, a euphoric crowd greeted Mr Charlton by chanting his name as he embraced supporters in a sea of red T-shirts.
Labor claims victory in #Parramatta#AusPol2022pic.twitter.com/M6vxl4pae6
— Parramatta Advertiser (@Parramatta_News) May 21, 2022
“Friends, it was a huge challenge to win the seat of Parramatta and tonight we met that challenge together,’’ he said.
“When I stood in front of you after I was first preselected, I said to be your candidate for Parramatta was the honour of my life and, tonight, that honour turns into a responsibility.
“I take that responsibility incredibly seriously and I want you to know that I will work as hard as I can to deliver for the people of Parramatta.’’
Mr Charlton said the future of Parramatta was the future of Australia.
Durga Owen, who was overlooked for preselection in favour of Mr Charlton, was directing the already noisy throng to chant “Andrew” and “Labor” to prepare for his entry.
Labor is racing away with a win in Parramatta where the crowd is poised to welcome Andrew Charlton pic.twitter.com/ZDibUpC8yJ
— Parramatta Advertiser (@Parramatta_News) May 21, 2022
“We are very excited, absolutely ecstatic, that Parramatta is safely retained in Labor hands in Andrew Charlton‘s safe hands,” she said.
“We’re hoping that we win government. As the day wore on we could see there was strong support for Labor as people were walking into the polling booth and we got confident we were going to win.
About 7.45pm, Liberal supporters at Rydalmere Lions FC erupted when learning about Ms Kovacic’s narrow lead.
The Liberals have not held Parramatta since Ross Cameron was in office between 1996 and 2004.
However, since then Mr Chartlon has reclaimed the lead.
The major parties have suffered early swings. The Liberal Party has been hit with a 4.59 per cent swing and Labor a 3.56 per cent dip.
Those votes have so far been smattered across The Greens, United Australia Party and One Nation.
Labor has held the electorate, which encompasses 105,513 enrolled voters, since 2004.
All eyes have been on Parramatta for the national poll - a seat which is up for grabs following the retirement of Labor’s Julie Owens, who held the seat for 18 years.
After visiting multiple polling booths at Toongabbie, Westmead and Merrylands, upbeat Parramatta Liberal Ms Kovacic made her last stop at Telopea Public School along with her husband, Glenn Gibson, before 5pm.
“I’ve had a great day,” she said.
“I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve been to a number of booths and I’ve been really really grateful the rain has held out for most of the day.”
At Telopea, first time voter Jayme Reberger backed Labor disagreeing with Parramatta candidate being parachuted in from the eastern suburbs.
“I voted for the Labor Party just because they are aligned with my values views and values,” she said.
“I prefer them over the Liberals.
“I feel he wouldn’t really know what’s going on in the western suburbs if he’s from the eastern suburbs. I get the contradiction with my vote but I don’t pay attention to the local elections, just federal elections.”
Earlier:
In the traditionally safe Labor booth of Granville Public School, the party’s hopeful, Andrew Charlton, had plenty of support as he greeted voters on Saturday but Paul Swainson was not one of them to put the ALP first on the ballot paper.
“I’m not really a big fan of Albanese and the cronies he’s got in his Cabinet,’’ he said.
The married father-of-two works two jobs at Bunnings and Coles, and has voted for Labor in his native England but said the ALP does not share its core values for the worker.
“I think they promise but I’m not sure they will deliver,’’ he said.
“History will show in this country they stuff up more than anyone.’’
However, the 47 year old is not optimistic change will happen soon and that he will find it easier to achieve his goal to stop renting and buy a house.
He labelled the Liberal proposal that would allow the public to unlock their superannuation as strange but said it was “better the devil you know”.
For another voter the superannuation proposal was the dangling carrot that sealed her vote for the Liberals.
“We’re struggling to get our foot in the door,’’ the mother-of-one, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
Bartender Adrian Zanatta, 23, voted for the Greens despite supporting Labor in the 2019 poll because “the Greens have more of a focus on climate change”.
He understands Greens can preference Labor but is determined not to support the Liberals and their gravitation to directing money into businesses.
His fiancee Zoe Zaronias, also 23, has backed the Greens because she can relate to their policies.
The couple agrees their generation prioritises environmental issues.
Merrylands biomedical engineer Sam Haddad, 42, is a staunch Labor voter and does not care that Mr Charlton is from the eastern suburbs.
“I feel like they belong to me,’’ he said.
“Let’s try something different this time.’’
Granville 75-year-old Kevin Smith would not reveal who would win his vote but blasted all candidates and politicians.
“No one is protecting the country - just their back pockets,’’ he said.
About 9am on Saturday, voters at the Lena St school polling booth were startled after a 59-year-old man was rushed to hospital when he suffered a fall, causing his head to hit the ground and bleed.
“He was just queuing up, he came in here (to the school hall) and we heard a thud and when we looked around he was lying on the ground,’’ booth manager Brendan McEntee said.
Fortunately a nurse and doctor tended to the voter before the ambulance arrived.
“They just checked he was not in too bad a way,’’ Mr McEntee said.
“We were lucky there was a doctor in the line and she tended to him.’’
The booth is in the Parramatta electorate - one of the most hotly contested battlegrounds.
One of the campaign’s most controversial candidates, Mr Charlton, raised eyebrows after being parachuted into the western Sydney seat from the eastern suburbs where he lives with his wife and three children in a $16 million mansion.
Mr Charlton began campaign day in the safe Labor booth of Granville Public School and appealed for voters to overlook his eastern suburbs postcode.
“The thing people want to know is who the candidate is going to help them live a better life,’’ he said.
“People want to help them improve their lives and I’m the only candidate who put a plan together for Parramatta, it’s 16 pages.
“Other people can run their campaign how they want.’’
Granville is Labor heartland though Mr Charlton said his campaigning targeted more Liberal-leaning suburbs such as Oatlands, Carlingford and the bellwether Dundas community.
Granville voter Rahima, 39, is a swinging voter but cast her vote for Labor after meeting Mr Charlton while he was door knocking.
“He came to introduce himself and give that personal touch,’’ the teacher, who declined to give her surname, said.
“He went the extra mile to listen.’’
Her concerns included helping youth in the community.
“I feel more relationships need to be made with them,’’ she said.
“If you can reach out to the youth, that’s our future.’’
Liberal candidate Maria Kovacic was not at Granville in the morning but her brother Mirko and his children supported their aunt outside the Lena St school where they handed out how-to-vote pamphlets.
“She’s feeling very good,’’ Mirko said of his sister.
“She said she’s done everything she possibly can. She’s feeling confident. She knows it’s not going to be easy but she’ll continue to campaign hard for the people of Parramatta.’’
Ms Kovacic lives slightly outside the boundaries at West Pennant Hills but has stronger connections to the region after co-founding Western Sydney Women and being on the Women@Eels board.
The two will vie for votes against the Greens’ Phil Bradley, Liberal Democrats Liza Tazewell, United Australia Party’s Julian Fayad, One Nation’s Heather Freeman, independent Steve Christou and Rohan Laxmanalal for the Animal Justice Party.
Mr Christou approached Mr Charlton in the morning and asked him for a Labor volunteer to stop defacing his conflutes with texta.
Party pundits say the result is expected to go to the wire and might not be revealed tonight.
“Unless it is a landslide to either Maria or Andrew by over 25,000 on Saturday night, the result will come down to postals and pre-poll votes,’’ they said.
“They won’t be finished counting postals and pre-polls until Monday or Tuesday.’’
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