By Parker McKenzie
Mary Doyle will represent Aston in federal parliament after a historic by-election win for the Labor Party on Saturday 1 April.
In front of volunteers and supporters at Boronia Bowls Club on election night, Ms Doyle said “our most optimistic and true believers knew that I was the underdog for this campaign even after the excellent result at the election last year.”
“We were the underdog but boy have we shown that we have a big bite,” she said.
“This was an extraordinary endorsement of the Albanese government, its positive plans for the country and a credit to all your hard work.”
The by-election, triggered by the retirement of Liberal Alan Tudge, was contested by five candidates: Ms Doyle, Liberal party candidate Roshena Campbell, Angelica Di Camillo from the Greens, Independent Maya Tesa and FUSION Party candidate Owen Miller.
At the time of print, the Labor party increased its first preference vote by over 8 per cent, while the Liberal party had a decrease of 3.91 per cent compared to Mr Tudge’s results at last year’s federal election. After preference counts, Ms Doyle had 53.6 per cent of the vote to Ms Campbell’s 46.4 per cent.
On election night, Ms Campbell said she had called Ms Doyle to congratulate her on her electoral victory.
“I want to give my profound thanks to the people of Aston, for the past five weeks I’ve had the privilege of listening to them and hearing their stories,” she said.
“Tonight was not our night but our democracy needs a strong opposition and the time will come, I think soon, when this country needs a strong Liberal government.”
Throughout the campaign, the Liberal Party focused on the rising cost of living and funding cuts to roads in Knox, however, its messaging failed to connect with voters.
Local Liberal Party members were left frustrated in February when a Victorian Liberal Party administration committee picked the Brunswick-based Ms Campbell, taking the decision away from local branch members by not holding a general plebiscite.
The Labor party, still riding a wave of support that saw swings towards it in Aston at last year’s federal election, successfully focused on Ms Campbell’s residence in inner-city Melbourne and tied the candidate to Peter Dutton’s leadership of the Liberal party.
The support of state MPs Jackson Taylor and Daniela De Martino also factored into the victory, with the pair campaigning for Ms Doyle in the lead-up to election day.
The party in government had not won a seat from the opposition in a by-election in over 100 years. Ms Doyle will also be the first Labor member for Aston since 1990.
At the time of print, the Greens had 10.1 per cent of the first preference vote, a 2 per cent drop compared to last year’s federal election, while Independent Maya Tesa won 7 per cent and the FUSION Party candidate Owen Miller with 2.9 per cent.
The Aston electorate covers Bayswater, Boronia, Ferntree Gully, Knoxfield, Rowville, Scoresby, The Basin, Wantirna and Wantirna South, and parts of Lysterfield, Sassafras and Upper Ferntree Gully.
