A suburban mum knocks out Libs
Self-described suburban mum Mary Doyle has defied the cost of living crisis to land a crushing blow on the Liberal Party in Aston.
Former unionist Mary Doyle’s “suburban mum” strategy combined with Labor’s ability to dodge the bullet on the cost-of-living crisis has transformed the once heartland Victorian Liberal seat of Aston into a solid Labor gain.
Analysis of 35 booths shows only three polling stations – plus pre-polls – in the seat were won by the Liberal Party’s Roshena Campbell at the weekend in a sharp turnaround from 2022 and a sign it could be lost to the opposition for years.
Ms Doyle, a breast cancer survivor, on Sunday emerged with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to declare her intent to focus on the people of the outer-suburban Melbourne seat that had been held by the Liberal Party since 1990.
Ms Doyle was sold by the ALP as a suburban mother of three and a rusted-on local in the outer eastern suburbs, although she lived in a nearby electorate. She was also a self-described underdog, campaigning on core Labor values including health, acknowledging cost of living was hurting many.
Despite soaring energy bills, rising interest rates and high petrol prices, Aston did not punish Labor, leaving a crushed Liberal Party with just two seats in Melbourne’s east.
Amid some emotion, Ms Doyle declared on Sunday Aston would be her focus, having described herself as a suburban mother.
“I promise every single one of you this – whether you voted for me or not, I will always listen. I will always do the best I can for this area. And I will always put locals first,” she said.
After Ms Campbell conceded defeat, Ms Doyle declared: “What we were trying to do hadn’t been done for a hundred years. We were the underdog, but boy, have we shown we have a big bite.”
Ms Doyle on Saturday night also described herself as a former official with the National Tertiary Education Union and the Australian Council of Trade Unions. “I am Mary Doyle. I’m a suburban mum and I’ve lived in the outer eastern suburbs for more than 35 years and as of tonight, I guess I’ll be your next member for Aston!”
It was the first time in more than a century a government had won a seat back from the opposition in a by-election; it was her second attempt at winning Aston.
Ms Doyle secured a 6.4 per cent two-party-preferred swing, picking up an extra 8.3 per cent on the primary vote, much higher than was forecast. It will leave Labor with a workable margin of 3.6 per cent and a platform to hold the seat at the next election.
Labor heavily targeted Ms Campbell as living in Brunswick in Melbourne’s north, a 45-minute drive from Aston, although she had a rental property in Aston.
The result was shattering for federal leader Peter Dutton as the broad consensus was that the seat would remain in Liberal hands, despite the 2022 Victorian state election vote suggesting a possible ALP win.
In 2022, despite a sharp swing against Liberal candidate and former Morrison minister Alan Tudge, the Liberal Party secured the majority vote in 20 of the 35 polling booths, plus pre-polls.
Mr Albanese said he watched Mr Dutton’s press conference after Ms Doyle’s victory speech and found his honesty disarming.
“I thought it was a moment of honesty from Peter Dutton when he said out loud what we have seen played out over the one year since he became leader of the Liberal Party,” he said.
“He said his priority was just keeping the Liberal Party together. Well, Australians don’t want any major party that is only focused on themselves.”
Mr Dutton said he wanted a markedly better performance from the Liberal Party in Victoria.
He said Victorian Premier Dan Andrews was a ruthless campaigner for the Labor Party and his federal party had failed to make inroads in the state. “It’s been going backwards for us since 1996,’’ he said. “We have had a particular problem in Victoria.”
Mr Andrews savaged the Liberal Party after the loss.
“The Liberal Party are a nasty, bigoted outfit, and people have worked them out, and that might be why they keep losing,’’ he said.
“I think the people of Aston might also have remembered last year in the state election that the Liberal Party cuddled up and entered into a political partnership with racists, with extremists, with people who have no place in mainstream politics.”
Mr Dutton undertook to closely examine the performance of the Victorian Liberal Party.
The loss follows defeat last May for the Liberals in seats including Kooyong, Higgins and Goldstein.
Aston, which abuts the Dandenong Ranges in Melbourne’s outer east, was considered until Saturday a problematic electorate but one likely to stay in Liberal hands.
Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto denied the blow-up in the state party over anti-transgender reform activist MP Moira Deeming had backfired on the federal Liberal campaign.
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