Labor candidate Kristy McBain has claimed victory in the Eden-Monaro by-election however, Liberal candidate Fiona Kotvojs still not conceding defeat. By 5pm Sunday the gap had narrowed to around 900 votes and by 5.40pm it was down to around 740. Source: Timberbiz
Labor sources indicated they were still confident the seat would fall their way.
The former Bega mayor is set to become the first female MP to represent the southern NSW seat since Federation, after narrowly edging out Dr Kotvojs.
Senior Labor right frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon labelled the election result “a bit of an ugly win for us” after the party’s primary vote fell about 3% and it lost significant ground in towns such as Queanbeyan, Bungendore, Tumut and Cobargo.
Ms McBain, the former Mayor of Bega Valley, said she was honoured to represent the people of the electorate, many whom were still living with the devastation of a horror summer of bushfires.
“Today was about Eden-Monaro, it’s about giving a voice to the people who feel like they’ve been left behind,” Ms McBain told reporters on Sunday afternoon.
“My first priority is to make sure bushfire relief is rolled out to those people who need it. This region deserves answers.
“No region has suffered more than Eden-Monaro,” she said.
“It’s been an election that was fought on local issues first and foremost, it’s been about bushfire relief, it’s been about COVID-19 and the economic impacts of that on our communities, it’s been about drought, on a whole range of local issues.”
The latest count from the Australian Electoral Commission shows Ms McBain winning the seat on preference flows including from the Nationals Party with Dr Kotvojs winning 37.78% of the primary compared with the ALP’s primary vote of 36.18%.
