The ALP’s candidate in McEwen, Rob Mitchell, has had his winning margin cut to 6 votes as he waits on the Australian Electoral Commission’s response to the Liberal Party’s request for a recount.
Media reports today say the lead has been cut to 5 but the AEC’s website shows 6.
The Queensland seat of Dickson has now been declared by the AEC, with victory going to the former Howard minister, Peter Dutton, by 221 votes. Damian Hale has been officially declared the winner of the Northern Territory seat of Solomon for the ALP by 196 votes.
Three other Queensland seats remain in doubt. In Flynn, the ALP’s lead has been cut by 247 votes to 212. In Bowman, the Liberal candidate’s lead has slipped 21 votes to 81. In Herbert, the incumbent Liberal, Peter Lindsay, has increased his lead by 29 votes to 352.
In the Western Australian seat of Swan, the ALP’s Kim Wilkie looks set to become the only incumbent Labor member to lose his seat. In NSW, former Howard minister Jim Lloyd seems certain to lose Robertson to the ALP’s Belinda Neal.
- Herbert – (Qld – Liberal) – Lib ahead by 352.
- Bowman (Qld – Liberal) – Lib ahead by 81.
- Swan (WA – Labor) – Lib ahead by 280.
- Robertson – (NSW – Liberal) – ALP ahead by 185.
- McEwen – (Vic – Liberal) – ALP ahead by 6.
- Flynn (Qld – open) – ALP ahead by 212.
Trivia note: today is the 30th anniversary of Malcolm Fraser’s victory in the 1977 Federal election. Today is also the 58th anniversary of Menzies’ 1949 victory, as well as the 52nd anniversary of his fourth consecutive victory in 1955.
