By Megan Gorrey
Independent candidate for Willoughby Larissa Penn felt an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu as the political fate of the state seat on Sydney’s lower north shore perched on a knife-edge on Sunday.
In one of multiple seats still too close to call, Penn was neck-and-neck with Liberal MP Tim James in former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian’s seat when counting paused on Saturday night.
Willoughby independent Larissa Penn is taking on Liberal candidate Tim James in Gladys Berejiklian’s former seat.Credit: Wolter Peeters
It’s not the first time Penn, who campaigned against the controversial northern beaches tunnels, has faced an anxious wait for results in the once-blue ribbon electorate. She ran on the issue of the tunnels at the state election in 2019 - when she polled 9.9 per cent of the vote - and narrowly lost to James in a by-election, triggered by Berejiklian’s resignation, last February. James is currently polling slightly ahead with 50.7 per cent of votes on preferences.
Penn said on Sunday: “Willoughby is so incredibly close. I’m finding it doubly hard this time around.”
Nine seats remained in the balance when counting paused at 10.30pm on Saturday: Oatley, Pittwater, Willoughby, Winston Hills, Miranda, Goulburn, Holsworthy, Kiama and Wollondilly.
Penn said she had spent her first day off the campaign trail in many weeks with her family - “just relaxing a little bit and not looking at my phone so much”. There was also washing to catch up on, and her son had school assessments due on Monday. “I’m just recalibrating my other life duties.
“It will be an interesting week, and I think we might get a pretty strong indicator by the end of tomorrow. I don’t think it will be too long to wait, but life goes on.”
Penn also expressed frustration with NSW’s optional preferential voting system, in which voters are only required to number one box on the lower house ticket, which she said was unclear.
“People are just so confused, I think even people who are volunteering are confused about it, and that’s not good for democracy,” she said. “I think systems should be really clear, so we understand what we’re voting for, and how we’re voting, and everyone has equal opportunity in terms of voting.”
On the northern beaches, the key electorate of Pittwater, where independent Jacqui Scruby took on Liberal Rory Amon in retiring MP Rob Stokes’ seat, also hangs in the balance.
Labor candidate for Kiama Katelin McInerney on election day.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Scruby, who spent Sunday watching her daughter play soccer, swimming at the beach with her family, and strolling the shopping strip in Avalon - admitted she didn’t mind the quiet after the election campaign “rollercoaster”.
“It’s really nice being in limbo because you don’t have the enormity of the job ahead, and you don’t have all the pressure of thinking, I have to go and find a job.”
Scruby said there was “palpable excitement” in the electorate, but she was realistic the result might not be known for days.
“On election day it very much felt, as the polling reflected, 50-50. The knife-edge is still there.
Pittwater teal candidate Jacqui Scruby, pictured on election day, spent time with family on Sunday following the “rollercoaster” campaign. Credit: James Brickwood
“I would have loved a result last night but it’s going to be a long count.”
In Kiama, Liberal MP-turned-independent Gareth Ward, who faces sexual assault allegations and has pleaded not guilty, received 38.2 per cent of the primary vote with 40 per cent of votes counted. His opponent, Labor’s Katelin McInerney, is ahead on a two-party preferred basis with 51.9 per cent of votes.
McInerney said on Sunday: “It’s still too close to call, and we probably won’t know for a few days or weeks. But what we can see is the community wants change.”
Psephologist Ben Raue, who runs The Tally Room blog, said although Labor would form a majority government after the Liberals’ election drubbing, the swings were patchy.
Raue said the swings towards the ALP in crucial Sydney seats including Parramatta (13.4 per cent) and Camden (12.8 per cent) were significant. Yet Winston Hills recorded a 2.9 per cent swing to Labor. The Liberal candidate for Winston Hills, Mark Taylor, had won 52.1 per cent of votes on preferences on Saturday night, but with 57.1 per cent of votes counted, the seat also remained too close to call.
“Overall, the state clearly voted for Labor, there’s no doubt about that, and they clearly won a majority. It’s one of those elections where there’s no uniform swing, it’s a bit all over the place,” Raue said.
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