Eden Monaro By-Election Results: Keneally Ley blow-up as votes trickle in - NEWS.com.au

Television coverage of the Eden-Monaro by-election has become increasingly feisty as results trickle in, with no clear winner in sight.

Speaking on the ABC panel, Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley got stuck into Labor Senator Kristina Keneally for what she alleged was a “preference deal” between Labor and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers (SFF) party.

The SFF elected to divert its preferences to the Labor Party, which could push candidate Kristy McBain over the line as she faces off with Liberal candidate Fiona Kotvojs.

With nearly 40 per cent of the vote counted, the numbers are still too early to call.

Labor’s primary vote is down, but with the help of preferences Ms McBain and Ms Kotvojs are still neck and neck.

“I think that if they had to do a deal with the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers to achieve the result then they‘re strange bedfellows indeed,” Ms Ley said.

“Let’s not forget, let’s not forget that the Shooters and Fishers have kept the name, “Shooters” for a reason. They are against gun laws. Very strange bedfellows.”

Ms Keneally was quick to fire back, denying there was any preference deal and calling Ms Ley’s comments a “rubbish”, a “low blow” and a “cheap shot”.

“Their (SFF) voters are tending to follow their own choice, but the Shooters and Fishers made the decision to preference Labor above the Liberal Party because they were of the view that this Liberal Party had left people behind,” she declared.

“Left them behind with the bushfires. Left them behind in the drought. Left them behind with the Jobseeker and JobKeeper program and the millions of people who have been cut off.”

Ms Ley came back swinging, suggesting Labor would have to live with the result of the “deal”.

“There is symbolism and the statements you make about having a party that has, you know, the views that it does associated with your result in this campaign and that‘s something that you do have to own, whatever that result is,” she said.

The SFF released their own statement on the matter earlier on Saturday, claiming “all the major parties are cut from the same cloth … everyone knows there is no difference between them anymore”.

“We are recommending going against the Governing party because they haven’t performed,” the statement read.

“If Labor was in power we would go against them too if their leader was in Hawaii while the District they claimed to care about was burning to the ground.”

As votes continued to slowly trickle in, Ms Ley and Ms Keneally continued to butt heads - perhaps for a lack of anything else to do.

The by-election, triggered by the resignation of Labor MP Mike Kelly, is expected to come down to the wire.

In 2019, the seat was decided by just 1685 votes, and with Mr Kelly – who carried a strong personal vote – out of the picture, this year’s result is expected to be even closer.

Speaking to the ABC, Ms Keneally said Labor’s scrutineers were seeing a swing away from Labor on the south coast, which was decimated during the bushfire crisis earlier this year.

She suggested this was a result of former MP Mike Kelly stepping down from his seat, and taking the votes of people who liked him, but not the party, with him.

“I really think at the end of the day, people are – you know, they‘re just so stressed, they are so frustrated by this pandemic, and they are not in the mood for politics as usual,” she said.

“This is going to come down to the wire tonight.”

Eden-Monaro is likely to elect its first female MP since Federation at Saturday’s by-election, with only a major – and unlikely -upset from Nationals candidate Trevor Hicks standing in its way.

Ms McBain and Ms Kotvojs made their final pleas to voters on Saturday afternoon, with Ms McBain, who served as Mayor of Bega during the devastating bushfire crisis earlier this year, arguing her election would “send the government a message”.

She said she would work closely with Deputy Premier and Nationals state MP John Barilaro, to achieve ‘outcomes for the community’, including better assistance to families who had lost everything in the fires, if elected.

Ms Kotvojs focused her pitch more on jobs, speaking with voters at polling booths about the Federal Government’s road and infrastructure projects, plans for businesses and rebuilding the economy after the pandemic.

Speaking to Sky News, she leaned heavily on her relationship with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, claiming she had spoken to him over the phone every day in the lead-up to the election.

“Last night we had a really long conversation,” she said.

“He’s always finding out what people are talking about, what I’m hearing when I’m talking to people … so it’s been good.”

More than half of the votes for the Eden-Monaro by-election were in before polls opened on Saturday, with postal votes and pre-polling to account for more than 60,000 votes.

A total of 16,840 applications for a postal vote have been made, twice the amount requested at the 2019 Federal Election, and 43,684 votes were cast in pre-polling booths before close of business on Friday.

While not all postal vote applications will necessarily turn into votes, an AEC spokesman told NCA NewsWire it was likely slightly more than half the electorate – comprised of about 114,000 eligible voters – had cast their ballot before Saturday.

Unfortunately, this early voting will not trigger an early result, as the ballots are not able to be counted before 6pm.

Saturday’s by-election was triggered when Labor MP Mike Kelly, who represented the area from 2007-2013, and again from 2016 to now, resigned for health reasons.

Labor candidate Kristy McBain, a former lawyer, will fight to save the seat for the party, while Liberal candidate and beef farmer Fiona Kotvojs will have her second run at the job in two years.

While the election will not have much of a wider impact on federal politics, there is thought to be much at stake internally for Labor and the Coalition.

At the 2019 election, there were just 1685 votes between Mr Kelly and Ms Kotvojs.

There are concerns Mr Kelly’s victory in 2019 was the result of his personal popularity, meaning there could be no home-ground advantage for the Labor candidate, Kristy McBain.

No Government has won a seat from the Opposition during a by-election in 100 years, so for Ms Kotvojs to win, it would be a stunning feat.

But the bushfire crisis earlier this year, which decimated parts of the electorate, will still be at the forefront of voters’ minds, which is not expected to work in the Coalition’s favour.

Early polling showed Labor had a four-point lead, and senior Coalition figures told The Australian they believed the party would lose – though only by a small margin.

Results are expected to begin flowing in from 6pm AEST.

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2020-07-04 11:37:30Z
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