Labor unable to form majority as Liberals retain Terrigal,Holsworthy

Labor will lead NSW with a minority government after the tallying of thousands of postal votes on Saturday confirmed two key seats had been retained by the Liberals.

By early Saturday afternoon,the counting of ballots received by mail in Terrigal,on the Central Coast,and Holsworthy,in Sydney’s south-west,confirmed both seats would remain Liberal held,meaning Premier Chris Minns’ government cannot win the 47 seats required for a majority.

By Saturday afternoon,seven days after polls closed in last week’s state election,Labor had won 45 seats,the Coalition had 35 seats (24 Liberal and 11 National),the Greens had retained its three seats and nine electorates had voted for independent candidates.

Just one electorate remained in doubt:the northern Sydney seat of Ryde where the local Liberal member,former customer service minister Victor Dominello,has retired.

The seat was considered a Labor gain on election night but has since been moved into the too-close-to-call category after additional counting suggested the swing away from the Liberals was not as large as originally assumed.

Whilea majority government was considered a likely outcome on election night,postal votes favouring Liberal candidates in close seats mean Labor is now looking likely to have 46 or,if it does not win Ryde,45 seats – two short of a majority.

Last week,three key independents,member for Sydney Alex Greenwich,Lake Macquarie MP Greg Piper and Wagga Wagga MP Joe McGirr,guaranteed confidence and supply to the new Labor government in the event of a minority government.

Terrigal was also called for Labor on election night,but counting over the past week revealed Sam Boughton,a local physiotherapist and first-time political candidate,had failed to defeat Liberal MP Adam Crouch,who previously held the seat with a 12.3 per cent margin.

When the count recommenced on Saturday morning,Crouch was just ahead of Boughton with 19,753 votes to 19,516. However,Crouch’s lead widened after he took the majority of more than 4000 postal votes counted in the electorate on Saturday.

Meanwhile,Liverpool councillor Tina Ayyad will become the member for Holsworthy after gaining a sufficient lead in the count against Labor’s Mick Maroney on Saturday.

Labor had attempted to capitalise on Holsworthy following acontroversial Liberal preselection in which local member Melanie Gibbons lost to Ayyad,who is married to Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun and was supported at polling booths by former prime ministers Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison.

Gibbons had previously been urged by Morrison to run for the federal seat of Hughes,but had been convinced to stay in state politics to not put her safe seat at risk.

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The seat still too close to call – and those that have changed hands

She eventually ran as the Liberal candidate for the South Coast seat of Kiama,which has beenretained by former Liberal MP Gareth Ward as an independent.

Ward wassuspended from the Liberal Party and state parliament after he was charged with sexual assault. He denies any wrongdoing and the case remains before the court.

On Saturday,Labor said it wouldconsider referring Ward to the parliament’s privileges committee,after previously promising to suspend him from the chamber if elected.

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