‘Willoughby ignored for too long’: Berejiklian’s seat down to the wire

The independent candidate in Willoughby Larissa Penn says a backlash against the NSW government in Gladys Berejiklian’s former seat was a direct result of the electorate being taken for granted for too long.

Willoughby, which is on a knife-edge after a 19 per cent swing against the Liberals, will be decided by postal votes after community campaigner Ms Penn secured 32 per cent of first preferences in Saturday’s byelection.

Supporters of independent candidate Larissa Penn outside Gladys Berejiklian’s electoral office during the campaign.

Ms Penn said the explanation for a significant shift in support away from the government in the once blue ribbon seat was because Willoughby had been “neglected and treated as a safe seat that would never be lost”.

She said the “electoral results so far do not represent a standard byelection swing but reflect local sentiment.”

The long-time Willoughby resident said she campaigned heavily against the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link, a $14 billion project that will connect the city and the northern beaches.

Ms Penn said despite the long and vocal campaign, largely run through school P&Cs on the lower north shore amid concerns from parents about health impacts from the tunnel project, the government had not listened.

Independent candidate for Willoughby Larissa Penn. Credit: Wolter Peeters

The key sticking point for Ms Penn and other community opponents was a “lack of rigorous community consultation” as well as a failure for the government to make publicly available the project’s business case.

“The swing comes on the back of an 11,000-signature parliamentary petition being ignored, thousands of submissions set aside, and a parliamentary inquiry into the Western Harbour and Beaches Link tunnels left unanswered,” Ms Penn said.

However, Ms Penn said the tunnels were “just the tip of the iceberg in Willoughby” and there were many other issues that had angered the community but had not been addressed while Ms Berejiklian held the seat

Ms Penn said everyone in the community respected the “hard work of the former member” but “when we are in a state of crisis, the local electorate still needs to be looked after”.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Liberal Willoughby candidate Tim James on election day.Credit: Renee Nowytarger

“My core response to the results so far is that of relief. I am pleased that the voice of the community is finally being heard and my hope is that whatever the outcome, substantive changes are made to the way the future of Willoughby, and for that matter, Sydney, is being planned”, Ms Penn said.

The Liberal candidate Tim James said on Wednesday that he was “quietly confident” that the government would retain the seat but acknowledged it would come down to the wire. He did not want to comment further.

Speaking on 2GB Radio on Wednesday morning, NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said he was still confident that Mr James would win the seat.

“We know that postals are coming in, and they usually favour the Liberal Party,” Mr Kean said.

“I’m confident that we’ll get over the line, but we’re not going to count our chickens yet. We’ll go through the process and see what the people of Willoughby decide.”

Premier Dominic Perrottet said on Sunday that local issues, including the government’s proposed northern beaches link, had significant implications for the byelection results.

Mr Perrottet said it was a “loud and clear” signal that better consultation was needed with locals who will be most impacted by the project, while not gaining a tangible benefit.

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