Braddon by-election: Labor’s Justine Keay tells PM: ‘It’s people before banks’

Labor’s Justine Keay says her win in Braddon sends a clear message to Malcolm Turnbull ‘and if he doesn’t listen now, he never will’.

28/07/18 Labor's Justine Keay arrives at the Ulverstone surf club after announcing her win in the Braddon by-election. Picture: Aaron Francis

Labor Braddon candidate Justine Keay has thanked supporters and claimed her victory sends a “very clear message to Malcolm Turnbull: it’s people before the banks”.

“It’s hospitals before the banks, it’s schools before the banks, and if he (Mr Turnbull) doesn’t listen now, he’ll never ever listen,” Ms Keay said.

“Malcolm Turnbull has only a few months before the general election to change his mind about that,” she later told Sky of the government’s proposed company tax cuts.

Greeted with wild cheering from a packed, jubilant crowd at the Ulverstone Surf Life Saving Club, an emotional Ms Keay wished well her Liberal opponent Brett Whiteley, whom she also defeated at the 2016 federal election.

“He has fought a hard fight ... he is a formidable opponent,” she said. “Whatever the future is for Brett ... I wish him all the best.”

She put her victory down to Labor’s focus on health funding and to growing public concern about the rising cost of living and static wage growth.

Labor’s @justinekeay is addressing supporters in Braddon with her Liberal rival Brett Whiteley not conceding.

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— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) July 28, 2018

“They are worried about their wages; they can see the rich getting richer and the rest of us getting left behind,” she said, thanking unions for their support.

Labor had “smashed it” and she would take up the fight against the Coalition to the next federal election. “I will fight for you as long as you will have me,” she said.

“I’ll take this fight to the next general election.”

With almost 75% of the vote counted, Ms Keay is ahead of Liberal rival Brett Whiteley 52.2% to 47.7% on a two-candidate-preferred basis.

Labor owes the victory, however, in large part to independent candidate Craig Garland, whose preferences were vital to getting Ms Keay over the line.

Mr Whiteley was ahead on primary votes, with 38.85% to Ms Keay’s 37.02%, with Mr Garland on 11% and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party candidate, Brett Neal, on 4.8%.