The declaration of the poll in the Queensland electorate of Fairfax has taken place.
Fairfax is the final seat in the House of Representatives to be decided in the 2013 federal election. The Australian Electoral Commission has now returned all the writs for House elections.
The winner, Clive Palmer, of the Palmer United Party, spoke at the declaration. He said: “Today is not about a celebration of party. It’s about a triumph of democracy.”
Palmer said he took his responsibilities as the new member for Fairfax “very seriously” and resolved not to let down the electors. He praised the work of the AEC but said something needed to be done about a system where the last seat was decided nearly two months after the election.
- Listen to the declaration of the poll by Divisional Returning Officer David McKenzie (3m)
- Listen to Palmer (3m)
- Listen to the declaration ceremony in full (17m)
Front page of today’s Courier-Mail.
Media release from Clive Palmer.
Clive Palmer Thanks Fairfax Electorate after Victory
The federal leader of the Palmer United Party, Clive Palmer, has thanked the voters of Fairfax after finally being declared the winner of the Sunshine Coast seat by the Australian Electoral Commission by 53 votes.
After several weeks spent recounting around 90,000 ballot papers, Mr Palmer has secured a famous win and will now take his seat in Canberra when parliament reconvenes towards mid-November.
Mr Palmer, who won the original count by seven votes, increased his margin of victory to 53 votes over his LNP rival Ted O’Brien.
“I am thrilled by the result and humbled by the responsibility of representing the people of Fairfax in federal parliament,” Mr Palmer said.
“I’d like to thank Ted O’Brien and all the other candidates. I wish Ted and his family all the best for the future.
“I would also like to thank the AEC staff on the Sunshine Coast who had a very difficult job and had a great deal of pressure on them from the AEC apparatchik from Canberra and Brisbane.”
Statement from the Australian Electoral Commission.
Writs for all 2013 House of Representatives elections have now been returned
The Australian Electoral Commission today returned the writ to Her Excellency, the Honourable Quentin Bryce (AC CVO), Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, for 2013 House of Representatives elections for Queensland.
Writs for the House of Representatives elections have now been returned for all states and territories following the formal declaration of the result in the electorate of Fairfax earlier today.
