Federal election 2019: Fiona Phillips claims victory in Gilmore, Mundine concedes defeat
Labor candidate for Gilmore Fiona Phillips has claimed victory in one of the tightest races in the country.
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Labor candidate for Gilmore Fiona Phillips has claimed victory in one of the tightest races in the country.
Phillips led from early on in the count.
The mother of four thanked her family and the community for their support.
“Thank you for putting your trust in me,” she said.
“I will work tirelessly for you all. I will fight for you.”
Despite claiming victory, her contender Warren Mundine refused to concede defeat on Saturday night, saying he would wait until every last vote was counted. But, late on Sunday afternoon, Mr Mundine conceded defeat and made a public statement congratulating Ms Phillips.
“The result in Gilmore is still close but based on my reading of the figures today, I don’t expect to win the seat and I congratulate Fiona Phillips and her team,” he said.
Mr Mundine, who was parachuted into the electorate by Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the 11th hour, blamed disunity in the coalition for his loss.
“Disunity is death in politics,” he said.
“In Gilmore we had three candidates from the Coalition family running against each other and this disunity has delivered the seat to Labor.”
Mr Mundine had the unwavering support of Scott Morrison this election, who made several visits to the electorate over the past month. But, the PM’s Gilmore drop-ins weren’t enough to keep the electorate in the hands of the Liberal government.
On Sunday afternoon, Mr Morrison apologised to the people of Gilmore for his loss but thanked them for the ongoing support in what was a messy race to the finish line.
“I apologise to the people of Gilmore that I wasn’t able to win their confidence and that they won’t have an MP who is a member of government,” he said.
“I also wish to thank the people of Gilmore — the best part of this campaign has been meeting and listening to you.”
EARLIER
SUNDAY, MAY 19
The Australian Electoral Commission continues the count in Gilmore today, with victorious Labor candidate Fiona Phillips securing almost 53 per cent of the two-party preferred split.
With more than 80 per cent of the votes counted and Phillips taking the clear lead, Liberal candidate Warren Mundine refuses to concede.
On Sunday morning he stood by last night’s statement that he will not admit defeat until every last vote is counted, no matter how long that takes.
From a well-known, local dairy farming family, Ms Phillips came to the 2019 election with several years of strong campaigning behind her.
Last night’s victory speech drew on her years of commitment to the electorate, and her tireless campaigning in the lead up to election day. She maintained it was a very tough race to the finish, but was proud as punch to finally declare she’d won the seat.
“I’m pretty ecstatic,” she said. “It’s a seat that Labor hasn’t held for about 23 years so it’s pretty amazing.”
Ms Phillips wasn’t worried about the fact Mr Mundine was yet to concede, saying the results weren’t expected to shift dramatically in the final 20 per cent of the count.
“I think it’s quite fine for people to take their time to concede but I’m focused on what we can control,” she said.
10PM: PHILLIPS DECLARES VICTORY, MUNDINE REFUSES TO CONCEDE
Fiona Phillips has declared victory in the seat of Gilmore.
The new MP was flanked by her husband and four family as she made a speech thanking her supporters at the Bomadeery RSL.
Despite this, Warren Mundine says he will not concede defeat and is hopeful he could still claim victory in the seat of Gilmore.
“Every vote counts in this election, every single vote,” he said.
“It could be me on that losing end or it could be Fiona Phillips. But I am not conceding until every one of those votes are counted.”
Ms Phillips declared victory despite the fact pre-poll and postal votes are yet to be counted.
“History shows that those votes for to the conservatives,” Mr Mundine said.
“This is a different election … so that could throw a spammer in the works. A lot of things could be different here and that’s why we aren’t conceding until every vote is counted and the electoral commissioner stands up and declares who’s won.”
9PM: PHILLIPS CAMP IN HIGH SPIRITS
Spirits are high at Fiona Phillips’ camp this evening, with the candidate still leading the charge.
With just shy of 45 per cent of the vote counted, Fiona Phillips has secured 19,912 first preference votes, while Warren Mundine has secured 13,922.
According to the Australian Electoral Commission the two candidate preferred count has Fiona Phillips at 53.5 per cent and Warren Mundine at 46.5 per cent.
Fiona Phillips’ camp excitedly waiting for her to arrive at Bomaderry RSL. Spirits very high as the Labor candidate leads the charge. @dailytelegraph #auspol pic.twitter.com/2f1mI2x0Uy
— Madeline Crittenden (@madjcrittenden) May 18, 2019
8PM: WHAT’S NEXT FOR GRANT SCHULTZ?
Independent candidate for Gilmore Grant Schultz celebrated the end of election day with family and friends at his campaign office in Nowra.
Mr Schultz said the past few months had been “tumultuous” at times, but said he proud of the campaign he and his team ran.
“It’s taken a bit of a toll,” he said.
“There’s a sense of relief to see the end of it but I’m really glad we’ve gottn to this point.”
7.30PM: MUNDINE ‘QUIETLY CONFIDENT’ DESPITE LABOR LEAD
Despite Labor taking an early lead in the seat of Gilmore, Warren Mundine says he is quitely confident he can win the seat.
“It’s too close to call,” he said.
“Anyone calling it now is well ahead of themselves.”
7PM: COUNTING BEGINS
Polls have closed and counting is underway for the federal election, after a long day of booth-hopping, handshakes and sausage sizzles for the candidates of Gilmore.
Liberal candidate Warren Mundine maintained he was confident he could win throughout the day, while Labor’s Fiona Phillips said while she was feeling hopeful, it was going to be “tough”.
Ms Phillips, who lost the 2016 election to Liberal candidate Ann Sudmalis in 2016 was the clear leader by 7pm.
By 6.50pm first preference votes from eight of Gilmore’s 59 polling booths had been counted. Ms Phillips was leading with 36.76 per cent of the votes, while Mr Mundine had secured 27.56 per cent.
The result is expected to come down to a very small number of votes, with both major candidates prepared for a long night ahead.
5PM: A QUICK REFRESHER ON THE SEAT OF GILMORE:
The last few months in Gilmore have been categorised by a messy preselection battle, in-party fighting and a last minute captain’s call from Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Outgoing Liberal MP Ann Sudmalis announced she’d quit last year, after accusing her party of bullying, branch stacking and undermining.
Grant Schultz was set to run as the Liberal candidate against Labor’s candidate Fiona Phillips, but Prime Minister Scott Morrison intervened, dis-endorsed Mr Schultz and parachuted former Labor Party president Warren Mundine into the electorate.
Mr Schultz, immediately resigned from the party and announced he was running as an Independent.
People in the electorate have raised concern over the fact Mr Mundine was parachuted into the electorate from Sydney, and did not live in Gilmore until he was endorsed.
Ms Sudmalis and former Gilmore MP Jo Gash have thrown their support behind Nationals candidate Katrina Gilmore, rather than their own party’s candidate- Warren Mundine.
Ms Phillips ran as a candidate in 2016 and lost to Ms Sudmalis buy less than 1500 votes.
Local polling has indicated Ms Phillips is a voter favourite, but today, she maintained it would be a very tough race to the finish line.
3PM: SALLY MCMANUS HITS GILMORE
ACTU secretary Sally McManus has made a whirlwind trip to the Gilmore electorate, spending most of the afternoon at the Bomaderry Public School.
Things are starting to slow down at the polling booth now with just two hours to go before polling closes.
Nationals candidate Katrina Hodgkinson and Labor candidate Fiona Phillips are still at the school, meeting and speaking with voters.
MUNDINE AND HODGKINSON MEET UP IN BOMADERRY
Nationals candidate Katrina Hodgkinson was greeted with a hug from Warren Mundine at Bomaderry Public School this morning.
The pair greeted voters and introduced themselves while wishing each other good luck.
GILMORE CONFUSION
It’s Tory chaos here at my booth in #gilmorevotes. The Australian Conservatives are handing out for ex-Liberal and now independent Schultz. Joanna Gash, ex-Liberal member is handing out for the National. The ALP people are united and backing @fiboydphillips #AusVotes2019
— Emily Mayo (@iamemilymayo) May 17, 2019
1.30PM POLLING BOOTHS QUIET IN NOWRA
One of Nowra’s major polling booths has been quiet today, with more than a third of all voters choosing to hit the ballot box early.
Nowra’s Uniting Church looks the part, full of corflutes and campaign volunteers from all the major parties, but there’s one thing missing- voters.
For those who haven’t yet voted, this is one of the places to go, there aren’t any queues in sight, meaning you can get the deed done in just a few short moments.
By close of business Thursday 42,349 Gilmore voters had already cast their ballots, making up 34.56 of the electorate’s voters.
1PM: GRANT SCHULTZ ‘PROUD’ OF HIS CAMPAIGN
The lead up to the federal election has been tumultuous for independent candidate Grant Schultz, but he refused to wipe the smile of his face on election day.
Schultz was chosen as Liberal candidate in a local ballot after retiring Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis withdrew, but the Liberal State Executive later chose to endorse the Prime Minister’s pick Warren Mundine as the candidate.
Mr Schultz immediately resigned from the party and chose to run as an independent.
The Milton business man began his day in Kiama and has worked his way south, stopping at major polling booths to meet with voters.
‘I’m feeling really positive I must say, there have been a lot of thumbs-up and handshakes coming my way,” he said.
While he said he was looking forward to the end of today, Mr Schultz said he was proud of the campaign he had run.
“I’m really proud,” he said. “We’ve tried to run things straight down the line and I think we’ve done a fair job of achieving that.”
When asked about the other candidates and who he believed would win, Mr Schultz said it should be one of the local candidates.
“Someone like [Labor’s] Fiona [Phillips] or Milton Leslight [United Australia Party],” he said.
“The electorate deserves a local that understands the community and has a history here,” he said.
12PM: FIONA PHILLIPS CASTS HER VOTE IN BOMADERRY
Labor’s candidate for Gilmore Fiona Phillips was all smiles as she cast her vote in Bomaderry this afternoon.
The South Coast local has spent the morning in Bomaderry, greeting voters with a smile and handshake as they walked through the school gates.
This year marks the second consecutive federal election in which Ms Phillips has run as a candidate.
While she narrowly missed out on victory in 2916, she’s hoping her luck turns around today, anticipating a nailbiting finish for the hotly-contested seat.
“I’ve always said it’s going to be tough and I’ve maintained that right the way through,” she said.
“We’ve done absolutely everything we can, knocking on doors, I think about 16,000 in total.”
As people approached Ms Phillips at the gates of Bomaderry Public School many of them commented on the fact she’d visited their homes or called them to ask about what they expect for the Gilmore region.
“I’ve been part of this community for years and years and years and I just hope that gets me across the line,” Ms Phillips said.
While recent polls showed in Ms Phillips favour, she said the best indicator of her popularity was speaking to voters.
“Hopefully they’ve heard me, hopefully they support our policies, that’s what’s most important she said.”
11:30AM: SAUSAGE SIZZLE BREAK
DEMOCRACY SAUSAGE OFF
WINNER: Illaroo Road Public School
FLAVOUR- classic Aussie beef 9/10, cooked to perfection. Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside.
BREAD- white, no butter. As it should be. 10/10.
ONIONS- choice of top or bottom. I chose above the sausage, and they were caramelised and DELISH. 8/10.
CONDIMENTS: tomato and BBQ both on offer. Some people were even mixing the two. Points deducted as there was no American mustard. 7/10.
Overall satisfaction- after busting several polling booths and being disappointed by the fact there were no sausage sizzles I was so glad to finally arrive at Illaroo Road. The sausage Sanger was extremely satisfying and the cooks were super friendly and funny. 10/10.
TOTAL: 44/50
11AM: MUNDINE’S ‘FEELING POSITIVE’
“This is for the Morrison government.”
Those were the words Warren Mundine announced as he cast his vote at Bomaderry Public School this morning.
The Liberal candidate for Gilmore said he was “feeling good” despite falling slightly behind Labor’s Fiona Phillips in the latest polling.
“We are here to win this election for the Liberal party,” he said.
“The feeling that we are getting is that we will get there, we will do that.”
While he’s feeling confident, Mr Mundine did admit it would be a very tight race to the finish line.
“If Mr Morrison wants to retain government we need to win this seat,” he said.
“It’s the most marginal seat in NSW, it’s going to be very close.”
The Prime Minister made a last minute visit to Gilmore last night, again throwing his supper behind his captain’s pick.
“To have the Prime Minister here last night was great,” Mr Mundine said.
“He’s very well liked around the community and to have his support is fantastic.”
10AM: HODGKINSON CASTS HER VOTE
For the second consecutive federal election, all eyes are on the seat of Gilmore.
Held by the Liberals on a margin of just 0.7 per cent, its expected to be a very close result.
The seat had been held by the Liberals or National party since it was created in 1984, apart from one Labor stint in 1993.
Nationals candidate Katrina Hodgkinson was greeted with messages of good luck as she arrived to vote at the Nowra Uniting Church on Saturday morning.
Dressed in her party colours, Ms Hodgkinson was quick to cast her vote, saying she had a “positive feeling” about today’s outcome.
“A lot of people are wishing me luck and telling me that they’ve voted for me which is really good,” she said.
“But there is seven candidates in this and will come down to preferences I’m sure.”
Former Gilmore MP John Sharp also visited the polling station to throw his support behind Ms Hodgkinson.
Veronica Muller was one of the first people to vote at the Nowra polling booth, throwing her support behind Ms Hodgkinson.
“She’s got a lot of experience as a politician and I think she would do a good job for us here,” she said.
The only thing missing from the polling booth was a sausage sizzle and cake stall.
9AM: IT’S ELECTION DAY
For those who haven’t already, it’s time to hit the polls!
There are seven candidates vying for your vote in the Gilmore electorate.
If you’d like to learn more about them before you make your decision, CLICK HERE.
On Thursday, Exclusive YouGov/Galaxy polling conducted for The Daily Telegraph was revealed, showing Labor looks set to snatch the seat from the Liberals with a 52/48 two party preferred vote.
Are you confident you know how to cast your vote correctly? It may sound like a simple question, but at the last federal election more than 700,000 votes could not be counted as the ballot papers were filled out incorrectly.
On the green House of Representatives ballot paper, you must number every box. On the white Senate ballot paper, you can either number at least one to six above the line, or at least one to twelve below the line.
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