Issue 165 22 May 2019
Your independent community newspaper - Ph: 4325 7369
I
Conroy and McBride returned to Parliament but with a reduced margin
ts business as usual on the northern part of the Central Coast with both Labor MPs being returned after the Federal election on Saturday May 18, although both Shortland and Dobell showed sizeable swings away from the Australian Labor Party. Shortland has always been a Labor seat and the sitting MP, Pat Conroy, went into the election with a solid 9.9 percent margin, yet, counting so far is showing a huge 5.8 percent swing away from Labor and a downturn in almost every polling booth in the electorate. “It’s fair to say that the people of Shortland did not like the Labor policy agenda and sent a very strong message that this is not what they want”, Conroy said. “I am humbled and grateful for the trust to be re-elected but only a fool would ignore the message from the electorate. “I think they (voters) reacted to a dishonest scare campaign about the franking credits and the working middle class people felt that Labor had abandoned them.” Conroy said voting trends also showed that there was “enormous dissatisfaction of what was going on in Canberra” because of upward voting trends to minor parties and independents.
No stopping Emma McBride and Pat Conroy “I will be getting around to community groups and individuals to make it clear to people that Labor has heard and accepts that they didn’t like our policy agenda and I will be working hard to build their trust again,” he said. Conroy said he expected to emerge from final counting with a four percent margin. With 81 percent of the vote counted, and on a two party preferred basis, Conroy had 54 percent of the vote with 47,031 and
the Liberal candidate, Nell McGill, held 45 percent of the vote with 39,842. First preference counts at the time of publication were: Susan Newbury, Sustainable Australia, 3.02 percent of the vote on 2,628; Xing Yu, Christian Democatic Party (Fred Nile Group), 1.99 percent on 1,731; Pat Conroy, Australian Labor Party, 41.23 percent on 35,821; Dani Rifai, United Australia Party, 4.44 percent on 3,869; Wylie Campbell, The Greens, 7.92 percent
on 6,885; Bryan McGrath, Animal Justice Party, 3.52 percent on 3,056; and, Nell McGill, Liberal Party, 37.87 percent on 32,909. For the second time, Emma McBride has won the seat of Dobell but her margin has narrowed with a 3.17 percent swing away from Labor. McBride said she was “grateful” to be reelected and there would be a lot of analysis of what happened with the swing away from Labor. “As soon as I can,
I’m going out into the community to listen and hear, and work towards what matters most to them,” she said. “The two main issues people come to me for is aged care and the NDIS, and I’ll be working to make sure that the people get what they need,” she said. McBride said her next three-year term will also have a strong focus on unemployment, education and schools. She congratulated
other re-elected Central Coast Federal MPs, Pat Conroy (Shortland) and Lucy Wicks (Robertson) and extended “best wishes to the Coalition on being returned to government”. “Thank you to everyone who put their confidence in me to serve our community and to all the volunteers and supporters who care about our community,” McBride said. With almost 82 percent of the vote counted and on a two-party preferred basis, McBride was leading with 51.64 percent of the vote on 46,682 and Liberal candidate, Jilly Pillon, had 48.36 percent of the vote with 43,719. Votes were still being counted as this newspaper went to publication and the latest first preference figures were: Aaron Harpley-Carr, United Australia Party, 5.20 percent of the vote on 4,700; Paula Grundy, Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group), 1.78 percent on 1,611; Jilly Pilon, Liberal, 40.96 percent on 37,032; Scott Rickard, The Greens, 7.04 percent on 6,368; Emma McBride, Australian Labor Party, 41.96 percent on 37,926; and, Gregory Stephenson, Independent, 3.06 percent on 2,762.
Office: 3 Amy Close, Wyong Phone: 4325 7369 Mail: PO Box 1056, Gosford 2250 E-mail: editorial@centralcoastnews.net Website: www.centralcoastnews.net
Source: Website, May 21 Tally Room Australian Electoral Commission Interview, May 20 Shortland MP, Pat Conroy Interview and Media statement, May 21 Dobell MP, Emma McBride