Coogee: Bruce Notley-Smith, Marjorie O’Neill think they can win as count goes down to the wire
The battle for the marginal electorate of Coogee remains on knife edge, with the seat’s Labor challenger not expecting a result until Monday.
The battle for the marginal electorate of Coogee remains on knife edge, with the seat’s Labor challenger not expecting a result until Monday.
The initial count from Saturday’s election has failed to deliver a clear victory to Labor candidate Marjorie O’Neill or incumbent Liberal MP Bruce Notley-Smith.
As of 5pm on Sunday, Ms O’Neill leads the first preference count at 50.9 per cent, benefiting from Greens preference flows.
Mr Notley-Smith trails by 603 votes at 49.1 per cent.
While most pundits have declared Coogee a Labor gain, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has refused to concede the loss of any Liberal seats.
A spokeswoman for Ms O’Neill on Sunday afternoon said the outcome was “too early to call”.
“There are still a lot of votes to be counted and we don’t expect a result today,” she said.
“It’s very much a waiting game. Hopefully we’ll be able to call it tomorrow.”
The Southern Courier contacted Mr Notley-Smith but he declined to comment.
In a statement, Ms O’Neill said: “I am very proud of the Labor campaign we ran - one that put action on climate change and renewables to the fore, which held the Government accountable for the light rail disaster, and which put properly funded and staffed schools and hospitals before spending billions rebuilding stadiums.”
On Saturday night, both candidates were optimistic they could clinch victory in the electorate – the second most marginal Liberal seat in NSW.
Mr Notley-Smith said the initial count did not point to the Liberal “wipe-out” some pundits were predicting.
Coogee is the only Coalition seat Labor is currently on track to win.
A total of 73 per cent of votes have been counted as of 5pm on Sunday.
SUNDAY 11PM: The Liberal and Labor candidates in the election battle for Coogee are both positive they can win the electorate as counting goes down to the wire.
Labor candidate Marjorie O’Neill said she was “optimistic” of being elected in the marginal seat as early results showed a 5.4 per cent swing towards the party.
“I think it’s looking very positive but I don’t want to jinx it,” Dr O’Neill said at 10pm on Saturday.
“I’m hoping I can call it tonight but we’ll have to wait and see.
“At the moment it’s far too close to know.”
After Michael Daley conceded defeat, he held up Dr O’Neill’s left arm and congratulated her on stage, but Dr O’Neill told journalists soon after that it was still too close to call.
With 40 per cent of the vote counted, Labor looks set to win the marginal seat.
After Mr Daley’s speech, Dr O’Neill took to the crowd, hugged and cried with her supporters, volunteers and staff. The audience cheered her name.
The night at Selina’s in the Coogee Bay Hotel was relatively quiet before Mr Daley arrived on stage just before 10pm to tell the still-excitable crowd he hoped to retain his position as leader of the NSW ALP.
Eyes were glued to the big screen throughout the evening, with locals from Michael Daley’s seat of Maroubra and Dr O’Neill’s seat of Coogee taking up most of the room.
Michael Daley’s parents John and Mary Daley arrived at about 7.45pm.
The signs pointed to a victory for Dr O’Neill early with Greens exit-polls from about 2.30pm showing her winning the seat.
A staff member close to Dr O’Neill said volunteers were sent out to Penrith from Coogee in the afternoon.
Volunteers at the after-party were very positive about how the day had gone.
James Fox who spent the day at polling booths in South Coogee for Dr O’Neill said there was more recognition for her than the sitting Mr Notley-Smith
“People have seen her in the community and likes the work she has been doing,” he said
“We’re all feeling very confident.”
But Mr Notley-Smith said initial results did not point to the Liberal “wipe-out” some pundits were predicting.
As of 10pm, he had 42 per cent of first preference votes, ahead of Dr O’Neill at 34 per cent. Dr O’Neill led two-party preferences at 51 per cent to 49 per cent.
“For the last six months they’ve been saying Coogee is going to be a wipe-out, the fact is we’re holding our ground,” Mr Notley-Smith said.
“I’m shocked. The Labor Party was throwing everything at me and having been written off I was preparing myself for a different outcome.
“It’s too early to know the final result. It’s tight and there are a lot of pre-poll votes to count.”
Early results showed the Greens netted 14.7 per cent of first preference votes in the electorate, while Keep Sydney Open was running forth at 4.5 per cent.
Coogee is the Liberal’s second-most marginal electorate in Sydney after East Hills.
“You can see the number of people they had out on the ground they were really targeting me — I think it upsets them the first member openly gay member of the lower house is a Liberal and I’ve got a better environmental record than any of my predecessors, ” Mr Notley-Smith said earlier.
Dr O’Neill, a Waverley councillor who started campaigning in June last year earlier said she was confident of her chances.
“The numbers don’t surprise me — as we saw in the by-election in Wentworth, voters have had enough,” she said.
“Climate change and education have been the number one issues (for voters) and people are really disappointed this government has gone ahead with the stadium.
“They should have waited until after election to make a decision.”
Mr Notley-Smith said delays to the Sydney Light Rail project may have impacted his chances, but he did not believe the demolition of Allianz Stadium was a primary factor.
“I always knew there was every possibility the light rail would be behind schedule in completion and I would have liked to have seen it up and running a month ago — it’s been unhelpful,” he said.
“Maybe we could have been stronger in our messaging about the stadium but I don’t know how much of a vote driver it really was.”
More than 55,000 residents were enrolled to vote in the electorate with 22 booths open across the region.
Michelle McNeil, who voted at Coogee Public School, said funding for healthcare and education were the main issues she considered at the ballot box.
I think the government has spent a lot of money on infrastructure but maybe not in the right areas,” she said.
“My son goes here to school and they struggle to get support for kids. So why wouldn’t we put money into them? Stadiums is an absolute waste of money.”
Tom McMorrow, who voted at Coogee Eastward Seniors Citizens Hall, believes the light rail would bring benefits to the region.
“Everyone complains about it but in five years’ time it will be a part of life,” he said.
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