Before a jubilant crowd of hundreds at the Brighton Bowling Club in Melbourne’s inner south,Daniel claimed victory and promised to be an “honest broker from the cross benches”.
Independent candidate Zoe Daniel has claimed the seat of Goldstein over sitting Liberal MP Tim Wilson.
Goldstein was long regarded as one of the Liberal party’s safest seats in Victoria. It had been held by the Liberals and their predecessors since federation.
In her victory speech Daniel referenced Australian suffragette Vida Goldstein who unsuccessfully contested the seat and after whom it is named.
“Vida was not elected. This seat is in her name,and today I take her rightful place,” said Daniel.
“This will bring hope” she said. “I am here to bring about progress.”
With about 70 per cent of the vote counted,the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has Daniel on a projected vote after preferences of 55 per cent to Wilson’s 44 per cent.
It was a dramatic reversal for Wilson. He first won the seat with a historic high vote in 2016 and a primary vote of 52.7 per cent in 2019.
He needed a primary of 45 per cent or more to hang on,but his vote crashed to about 38 per cent.
Daniel was on about 36 per cent but attracted the vast bulk of crucial Labor and Green preferences.
Liberal candidate for Goldstein Tim Wilson is 'optimistic' he will keep his seat.
After Daniel made her victory speech,Wilson took to the stage at his event at the Black Rock Yacht Club to the remaining faithful supporters.
“Tonight is going to be one thing – long,” he said. “The good news is despite the challenges we face,we are still,I think,in a very competitive position. The reality is that there are so many results we do not know,” Wilson told the thinning crowd.
But speaking quietly to individual supporters Wilson conceded his chances were slim. He toldThe Age he needed a “good night’s sleep” before he could comment on what had lost the Liberal party the election. “There’s obviously something bigger going on,” he said.
By 9.30pm some of Wilson’s supporters were shedding tears and the event was being packed down at 10.40pm with only a couple dozen people left. Wilson left the venue without conceding.
Wilson remained dogged on Saturday night in his insistence that the Independent campaign was fraudulent and an “unholy alliance” between GetUp,Extinction Rebellion and the Greens “all going under one banner to back so-called independents”.
But the Coalition strategy of bashing independents as fakes supported by outsiders failed dismally in Goldstein where Daniel reflected local concern about climate,government integrity and gender equality,all issues on which the Coalition was vulnerable.
Liberal supporters in Goldstein,and especially in bayside suburbs like Brighton and Sandringham have long been characterised as well-educated,small-l Liberals,interested in issues such as the environment and refugees.
Wilson ran on issues including national security - claiming Australia is in “its most dangerous decade” - economic management,and the Coalition’s technology-led approach to cutting emissions.
Tim Wilson looks on as Zoe Daniel campaigns Saturday.Chris Hopkins
Daniel’s policy priorities have been a 60 per cent emissions cut by 2030,a federal integrity commission with teeth and action on gender equality.
The Goldstein campaign has been unusually bitter and marked by heated rows over the local council ban on election signs,vandalism of signs,and allegations of anti-semitism.
Wilson has been a controversial figure in Australian politics. A former human rights commissioner,he made a name for himself campaigning for same sex marriage,proposing to his partner,Ryan,on the floor of the House of Representatives on the day the legislation was introduced.
But he is also renowned as a free speech libertarian who won acclaim from the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) for defending the rights of religious groups to discriminate against LGBTQ people,and famously argued for repeal of Section 18C[racial vilification] of the Racial Discrimination Act.
He has a vexed history in climate policy. He was appointed assistant minister in 2019 but has long been associated with climate scepticism,especially through his work with the free market think tank,Institute of Public Affairs (IPA),between 2006 and 2013. He remains a member of the IPA,which opposes even the 2050 net zero target.
The Coalition’s tortured history on climate policy,and its reluctance about a federal integrity commission,have worked against Wilson in Goldstein. Morrison has not visited Goldstein during this campaign.
Despite local pressure,he has stuck with the party line on issues climate and integrity,arguing that as a federal MP he must prioritise the national over local interests.
“When you go to Canberra you don’t vote parochially,” Wilson toldThe Agethis month. “You vote for what’s in the national interest. Ultimately,I have to accept that I may not be what people want. But I’d rather frankly go down and stand by the nation than the alternative.”
Cut through the noise of the federal election campaign with news,views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley.