Liberals claim Goldstein but Kooyong still close

Kooyong has come down to just 365 votes, while Goldstein has reverted to blue after three years in teal.

Liberal candidate Tim Wilson celebrates after defeating Independent Zoe Daniel in the seat of Goldstein. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

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Liberal Tim Wilson has staked his claim for immediate promotion to the shadow ministry after reclaiming Goldstein, while Amelia Hamer remains locked in a close contest with Kooyong teal Monique Ryan and is now trailing by 586 votes.

Three years after being ousted from the bayside seat in the 2022 teal wave, a smiling Mr Wilson claimed a historic victory on Wednesday with the Australian Electoral Commission confirming he had surged to a 1362 vote lead over MP Zoe Daniel.

Mr Wilson said it was a “privilege” to reclaim the seat and that his win holds “lessons for a recovering Liberal Party” while deflecting questions about whether he aspired to the leadership.

“Today, I had aspirations for one thing, and it was to have the great privilege and service to be the member for Goldstein again, and of course we have lived out that promise,” he said.

Mr Wilson, who served as the member for Goldstein from 2016 until his defeat in 2022, is a leading candidate for a senior shadow ministry with the ranks of the opposition being decimated by Labor’s landslide.

“I will always want to be part of the conversation to build Australia’s future, and particularly its economic future, because from that stems our social unity, our sense of equality, but also our sense of aspiration and dreams for the next generation of Australians,” he said.

Ms Daniel, who danced on stage on Saturday night in what history will show was a premature victory party, has refused to concede despite, saying she would wait until all the votes were counted “out of respect for the democratic process”.

Zoe Daniel celebrated what she thought was a victory on Saturday night. Picture: Instagram

The teal-coloured Tesla driving Ms Daniel was unable to repeat her victory from three years ago, despite Simon Holmes a Court’s political action group, Climate 200, pumping in $520,000 into her election campaign in the past year. This included a $50,000 donation just ten days before the election.

Mr Wilson declined to directly comment on criticisms of the Coalition’s election campaign but talked up his own grassroots campaign in Goldstein.

“We had more than well over a thousand volunteers as well as all the people who donated and supported us from a grassroots movement,” he said.

“We did not have massive cheques written to us by entities based in Sydney who tried to treat the community like it was an acquisition in a trust fund.

“We very much built it from the bottom up and I think there are a lot of lessons for a recovering Liberal Party about how it wants to take on the future of the country and that’s why we are so proud of it because we share this victory together.”

Liberal candidate for Kooyong Amelia Hamer in Hawthorn. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

In Kooyong, Ms Hamer started Wednesday 1002 votes behind, but by 6pm was trailing by 586 votes with thousands of postal votes yet to be counted. About 61 per cent of postal votes are breaking her way, compared with 39 per cent for Ms Ryan. In terms of primary votes, Ms Hamer also break through the critical 44 per cent threshold on Wednesday.

But Liberals warn there is a long way to go in the race to reclaim the party’s heartland seat and warn that even if Ms Hamer finishes 500 votes ahead of the teal at the conclusion of counting postal votes, there are several thousands absentee votes left to count.

Absentee votes are often university students studying interstate and Liberals are concerned that these will favour Ms Ryan and perhaps enable her to mount her own comeback.