Labor candidate for Aston, Mary Doyle, has secured a historic win against Liberal candidate Roshena Campbell after residents in Melbourne’s outer-east went to the ballot box today.
It marks the first time in over a century, since 1920, that a sitting government has won a seat from the opposition in a federal by-election.
In her victory speech, Doyle described herself as the underdog of the campaign.
“What we were trying to do hadn’t been done for 100 years,” the former trade union official said.
“And Aston has been Liberal since Sinead O’Connor’s nothing compares to US top of the charts way in 1990, when I was just a slip of a girl at 19.
“We were the underdogs but boy, have we shown that we have a big bite.”
The Prime Minister also confirmed he will travel to Melbourne in the morning.
The PM’s call is believed to have come ahead of Liberal candidate Roshena Campbell’s official call to concede.
The City of Melbourne councillor and barrister used her concession speech to thank Liberal leader Peter Dutton and former prime minister John Howard before praising the democratic process.
Campbell said she felt “incredibly lucky to live in this country where we have a strong democracy”.
“I will always be proud to be a Liberal and I will always be proud to be Australian because we live in the greatest county in the world.
“We will fight on,” Campbell added.
Of the 26 federal seats that exist in Melbourne, the Liberals now only hold three, signalling big challenges ahead for the party.
PM campaigns hard to help nab Liberal seat
When counting got underway on Saturday evening, the Liberals were seeking to retain their seat in what was considered a test for Liberal leader Peter Dutton.
Albanese was on the ground earlier on Saturday hoping to wrest the seat away from the Liberal party but it was considered unlikely to swing to the Labor party.
The seat was left vacant after the resignation of former minister Alan Tudge, who quit parliament after the Morrison government lost power.
The seat in Melbourne’s outer south-east had been held by the Liberals since 1990, but its 53-47 per cent two-party preferred margin in last year’s election has Labor hopeful of a pickup.
However, Albanese himself had dampened expectations in a press conference this morning.
“We are taking this campaign seriously. But history tells us that the Coalition, the Liberal Party, should be in a very strong position,” he said.
“That is just what history says.”
He took a swing at the Liberal party leadership at the press conference.
“They block and say no to absolutely everything in the parliament,” he said.
“They are very negative in the way that they approach everything. And I think Australians deserve better.”
The Labor campaign has made much of the unpopularity of Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
An internal Labor poll showed that while the Liberals were ahead in the seat, only 21 per cent of Aston voters approved of Dutton.
The opposition leader, for his part, said the by-election was a chance to send the federal government a message.
“Cost of living pressures are real for families,” he said.
“The opportunity in the election today is to send a very clear message to Labor that they shouldn’t be cutting local road funding, and they shouldn’t be abandoning this community.”
