Zoe Daniel beats Tim Wilson after heated battle for blue-ribbon seat of Goldstein in Melbourne

The gloves came off in Goldstein, where MP Tim Wilson and independent Zoe Daniel fought a bitter campaign. She emerged the victor.

Former ABC journalist and teal independent candidate Zoe Daniel has beaten sitting Liberal MP Tim Wilson after a bitter battle for the Melbourne seat Goldstein.

Election signs smeared with human excrement and claims of “disinformation” marred the campaign for the blue-ribbon seat.

Polls long suggested voters in the inner city Melbourne seat (previously known as Balaclava) could turf out Mr Wilson, who had held the seat since 2016.

In the 2019 election, Mr Wilson was able to defend the fairly safe seat against Labor by a reasonable margin, winning the two-candidate vote by 15,480 votes.

But Ms Daniel, one of the teal independents being backed by Climate 200, was widely expected to win.

Ms Daniel’s message on faster climate change action, support for an independent integrity commission, prosperity, and gender equality resonated with voters.

“I think if there is an umbrella issue it would be accountability and integrity,” Ms Daniel told news.com.au.

“I think the penny’s dropped for a lot of people that climate change policy looks the way it does because of powerful figures in the background.”

She said her grassroots campaign was built on the idea of direct community engagement.

“It’s a safe Liberal seat and people feel taken for granted,” she said.

“The Coalition hasn’t had to take community views into account, but as an independent I can directly represent the community’s priorities.”

Mr Wilson said he believed the agenda of the Climate 200 independents was to get elected in order to “sneak” Labor into government.

Independent Zoe Daniel at her campaign launch. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Ian Currie

“The whole campaign is to drive change,” he told Sky News Australia.

“If you think that doesn’t involve change in government, you’ve got rocks in your heads.

“If they had any integrity, they’d tell us who it was they were going to back to form government – but they won’t.”

In the event of a hung parliament, Ms Daniel told news.com.au she would negotiate with both major parties when deciding who to support.

“I think my community would expect me to see what’s on the table from the two major parties,” she said.

“If I’m elected on the pillars of climate, integrity, prosperity and equality, I will advocate for those policies in any negotiation. It really depends on what the major parties can deliver on those major issues.”

Mr Wilson was the assistant minister for emissions reduction, although his green credentials were muddied by his work and membership of the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), which opposes the net zero by 2050 target.

The MP, who is gay, had also defended the rights of religious groups to discriminate against LGBTIQ people, and argued for a repeal of racial vilification laws.

He backed the Coalition’s favoured model for an integrity commission, which does not include public hearings into politicians and would not enable the body to launch its own inquiries.

Liberal MP Tim Wilson campaigning in Hampton. Picture: Nicki Connolly

In a sign of how fierce the contest was, campaigning turned ugly in recent weeks, with one of Ms Daniel’s signs recently smeared in human excrement and Mr Wilson’s signs also being painted over.

Ms Daniel also criticised the distribution of flyers by the Liberal Party, which raise the prospect of $9750 in land tax, capital gains tax and more high-rise development if she is elected.

She said she did not even have the power to introduce land taxes as they were a state — not federal — tax.

“It’s designed to get people not to vote for me based on a lie. I don’t think that's appropriate,” she said.

“Truth in political advertising will be a priority for me.

“We should keep conversations to the issue rather than spreading disinformation and attacking people personally.”