The five seats that turned election in Scott Morrison’s favour
When Scott Morrison celebrated his victory, he had special praise for these five seats. These are the seats that all went wrong for Labor.
When Scott Morrison claimed victory last night, he had special praise for five seats. And with good reason.
After saying he had always believed in miracles, the returning Prime Minister gave a special mention to the seats that helped him pull off the unlikely victory.
“So let me talk about some of our other miracles tonight,” he said to the party faithful in Sydney to loud cheers.
No one gave the Coalition much chance of winning because Mr Morrison would actually have to pick up seats from Labor.
In these five seats they did just that.
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BRADDON, TASMANIA
Mr Morrison had a special shout-out for “The Big Unit, Gav Pearce, down there in Braddon” and with good reason.
The Liberals claimed the marginal northwest Tasmanian seat of Braddon, with first-time candidate Gavin Pearce ousting Labor incumbent Justine Keay.
Mr Pearce, a beef farmer and former soldier, declared victory at 9.30pm with a swing of 5.8 per cent towards the Liberals.
“The message is clear, Braddon has spoken,” he told cheering party faithful at a Burnie motel.
Mr Pearce, who campaigned heavily on a pledge to boost small businesses and the northwest’s economy, claimed Labor neglected the state’s north.
He was on Saturday morning flanked by Scott Morrison and Premier Will Hodgman at a school polling booth in Ulverstone.
HERBERT, QUEENSLAND
Cathy O’Toole won the north Queensland seat of Herbert by just 37 votes in 2016, but with the ALP vote being wiped out in Queensland it was never going to stay in Labor’s hands.
A swing of 7 per cent to the Coalition’s Phillip Thompson gave him 57 per cent of the vote after preferences.
Ms O’Toole first preference vote dropped to just 25 per cent, with the One Nation and Katter Australia Party candidates both getting 10 per cent — which most of those votes flowing back to the Coalition.
“You have to rise from it and come to some sort of understanding about what happened and how did it happen,” Ms O’Toole said after the loss.
Failing to clearly state where she stood on the Adani Carmichael coal mine ended up being seen as a reason for her poor results.
“I certainly wouldn’t say it (the Adani issue) was a godsend and a help,” Ms O’Toole said.
“I think when we have had time to sit and reflect, dig through what has happened, I’m sure we will come to a space of a better understanding.”
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LONGMAN, QUEENSLAND
Another seat to crash for Labor in the collapse of its vote in Queensland.
The ALP won Longman in 2016 through Susan Lamb in 2016. She won her seat easily again at a by-election last year after she had been previously been ruled ineligible to sit in parliament because of dual citizenship.
But a 4.9 per cent swing to Liberal National Party’s Terry Young last night ended Ms Lamb’s stint as MP.
Again it was the preferences from the One Nation candidate — who polled at more than 10 per cent — that helped get the Coalition over the line.
BASS, TASMANIA
Liberal candidate Bridget Archer claimed Bass, making her the first female Tasmanian Liberal MP to represent the seat.
With more than 80 per cent of the vote counted, local mayor Ms Archer is just ahead of Labor’s Ross Hart but is expected to win the seat.
“We went into this six or seven months ago and things were looking pretty tight. But we’ve turned it around,” she told reporters at her party event in Launceston.
Labor held the seat by more than 5 per cent, but a huge swing of 6.4 per cent to the Coalition helped it change hands.
MACQUARIE, NSW
“Sarah Richards, we’re bringing back Macquarie!” Mr Morrison said to loud cheers last night.
Things are a little bit closer in this Sydney seat, but it is still looking good for the Coalition.
Originally tipped to be an easy Labor win, the contest between incumbent Labor MP Susan Templeman and Liberal candidate Sarah Richards is tighter than anyone predicted.
With 82 per cent of votes counted, the Liberals hold a 0.04 per cent margin over Labor. At the last election in 2016, Ms Templeman won the seat with a 6.6 per cent swing.
Last night Ms Richards said: “I am so proud of what we have achieved, but tonight it is too close to call.”
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