JOSH WILSON has clinched Fremantle for the ALP despite a monumental effort to unseat him by independent Kate Hulett.
Mr Wilson, who has represented Fremantle since 2018, was declared to have held the seat on Wednesday afternoon, beating Ms Hulett by just 1,576 votes in what the ABC predicts is a 16.1 per cent swing against the ruling party.
According to the AEC, Mr Wilson received almost 39 per cent of the primary vote to Ms Hulett’s 23.9, but Ms Hulett received a majority of Liberals’ and Greens’ preferences which produced the narrow result.
In a statement to media, Mr Wilson said he was “humbled” and “grateful” to be re-elected to Fremantle, paying tribute to his competitors while highlighting his success in securing voters’ first preferences.
• A relieved Josh Wilson was taken to the wire by independent candidate Kate Hulett.
“I am glad the primary vote result in Fremantle showed clear recognition of the positive and substantial difference that a focused reformist Labor government can make to our shared wellbeing, and to a fair, strong, and sustainable future for all Australians,” Mr Wilson said.
“In an election in which the Liberals and Greens directed their preferences away from me, I am grateful that a significant number of people who primarily supported either Liberal or Greens Party candidates nevertheless saw fit to ignore those directions in recognition of my work and my record for delivering for Fremantle.
“That clear endorsement by community members means a lot.”
While the rest of the city seemed glued to the ABC’s election room as the results see-sawed in the days after the election, Labor appeared pretty confident early – Mr Wilson didn’t hang around for the end of the count flying to Canberra for Labor’s caucus on Tuesday, called for PM Anthony Albanese to shape his new front bench.
Independent candidate Ms Hulett says the fact the election was so close is “quite unbelievable” and she is “overwhelmed” by community support for her campaign.
• Kate Hullet held a press conference after the weekend vote.
Unbelievable
“On the one hand, there’s no point in trying if you don’t think you’re going to win, but by the end of it I had no clue because I’d never done it before and there were no examples of someone challenging a very safe Labor seat,” Ms Hulett said.
“The major parties [said to us], you’re not going to be able to do anything, because [Federal] is a different beast and the communities are much different, but ultimately everyone communicates the same, and everyone cares about stuff, you just have to engage them and that’s what we did.
“It was a shock, because it does seem so improbable that we would have been able to do this in such a short period of time.”
Despite eventually losing out to Mr Wilson, Ms Hulett says she is “stoked” with the outcome of the election and labels the massive swing against Labor a “monumental achievement”.
“What it means is that Fremantle is no longer a safe seat, and that is really the ultimate objective of community independents, to make sure people and parties don’t take communities for granted,” Ms Hulett said.
“I’m really proud of Fremantle, and I’m proud of all of the people who have got off the couch for the first time in their lives to participate in a political campaign… I’m really proud of that, giving people a vehicle for their own change and fulfilment in what’s a really confusing time for the world.
“I feel like we crystallised a beautiful movement in our community and catalysed it, and it feels really exciting.”
In Tangney, Sam Lim appears to have kept his seat comprehensively, generating a 3.5 per cent swing to the ALP and away from the Liberals’ Howard Ong, who also suffered a 4.87 per cent loss in first preferences.
Mr Lim was contacted for comment but did not respond in time for publication.
by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER