Scott Morrison’s government won’t change now Kerryn Phelps declared Wentworth winner

Scott Morrison says his government will “continue to function” now he has officially fallen into minority government.

Kerryn Phelps has officially taken Wentworth. Picture: Kym Smith

Scott Morrison says his government will “continue to function” now he has officially fallen into minority government.

The Prime Minister said Kerryn Phelps’ official victory over Liberal candidate Dave Sharma in the federal seat of Wentworth did not change his current parliamentary arithmetic in the House of Representatives, as he has been without a Liberal vote since Malcolm Turnbull resigned.

“I don’t think a lot of has changed in terms of how many votes we have to get to pass legislation. We still need 75. That’s been the case for the entire time I’ve been Prime Minister,” he said.

“That will continue. We’ll work, as I said we would, in the event that Wentworth were to fall to an independent. It’s obviously easier if there is one extra

“But if with one less, the government will continue to function in the way you’d expect it to, working closely with the crossbench.”

The government now has 74 votes on the floor of the House of Representatives without Speaker Tony Smith.

Dr Phelps said before the declaration of the poll this morning that Mr Morrison had not been in touch, but that she looked forward to speaking to him soon.

The independent candidate won former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s federal seat in the eastern suburbs of Sydney after an official declaration by the Australian Electoral Commission this morning.

The more than 19 per cent swing against the Liberal Party was one of the biggest swings against a government at a by-election in Australian electoral history.

Liberal candidate Dave Sharma received a final primary vote of 43.08 per cent, a 19.18 per cent swing from Mr. Turnbull’s result at the 2016 federal election. Dr Phelps garnered a 29.19 primary vote.

“The voters of Wentworth have spoken loud and clear, and I have heard their message,” Dr Phelps told reporters in Sydney, “It’s been quite a journey so far.”

Dr Phelps reiterated her top priorities would be getting children off Nauru, protections for LGBTI Australians, and climate change.

“The issues that came up through the by election campaign in Wentworth were issues around not only how we treat Australians,” she said, “but it also came to how we seek asylum in Australia. And what the Australian people have said is it’s not good enough to trap people on an island.”

“Moving forward the most important thing is that we move forward united as a people.”