December 3, 2023
This is the maiden speech to the House of Representatives by the ALP member for Cowan, Anne Aly.
Hansard transcript of maiden speech by Anne Aly, ALP member for Cowan.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Coulton) (16:08): Before I call the honourable member for Cowan, I remind the House that this is the honourable member’s first speech. I ask the House to extend to her the usual courtesies.
When the new House of Representatives meets for the first time on August 30, it will have 39 new members, 26% of the chamber’s 150 members.
The ALP will have 23 new members, the Coalition 15 and the Nick Xenophon Team 1. There are 25 males and 14 females.
The ALP will have 23 new faces, exactly one-third of its 69 MPs. This includes 16 members in seats the ALP won from the Coalition and includes two returning members, Mike Kelly in Eden-Monaro and Steve Georganas in Hindmarsh. The other 7 new members have replaced retiring sitting members.
The Liberal Party will have 11 new members (19.7%), including Julia Banks, the member for Chisholm, who represents the only seat the Coalition took from the ALP in the election. Ted O’Brien regained the seat of Fairfax from the Palmer United Party. Nine other Liberals replace retiring members.
11.45pm – As election counting entered its second week today, the ALP claimed victory in Cowan, whilst the LNP drew further ahead in Capricornia and Flynn, securing an absolute majority of 76 seats for the Turnbull government.
The ALP still leads in Hindmarsh and Herbert, the two remaining undecided seats in the House of Representatives.
In Cowan, the ALP’s Anne Aly claimed victory and will become the first female Muslim to be elected to the House. A batch of votes that had been wrongly counted for the Liberals delivered several hundred votes to Aly. Her 946 vote lead, combined with preference flows means that Cowan can now be taken out of the doubtful list. There are 6,942 votes still to count. The ALP now has a confirmed 67 seats.
The ALP’s lead in Hindmarsh remains at 583 votes. This seat will probably come out of the doubtful list in the next day or two, since the ALP lead seems firm. There are 5,307 votes still to count. The Liberals’ 53.81% advantage in postals is offset by the ALP’s 56.06% advantage in absentees.
In the Queensland seats of Capricornia and Flynn, the LNP extended its leads. Both seats have now been removed from the doubtful list.
In Capricornia, the LNP lifted its weekend lead of 148 votes to 691. There are 3,475 votes to count and it is clear that the LNP will retain the seat. A traditionally Labor electorate, Capricornia was lost by the ALP in 1975 and 1996. In both cases, it was regained at the following election. Michelle Landry becomes the first non-Labor member for Capricornia to win consecutive elections since Henry Pearce, who held it between 1949 and 1961. Pearce is now 98 years old and is one of only two surviving members from the 1949 parliament.