Across the country over the weekend, a sweep of progressive women won or retained safe, male-dominated Liberal seats.
Most notably, Labor’s Ali France became the first person in Australian history to defeat a sitting opposition leader in a federal election, when she took the Brisbane seat of Dickson off Peter Dutton on Saturday night. It was her third attempt, having challenged Dutton for the seat in 2019 and 2022, narrowing his margin with each contest.
As one of Queensland’s most marginal electorates, Dickson was most recently held by the Liberal National Party on a 1.7 per cent margin, with Dutton successfully defending it at every election since 2001.
On Saturday night, France, the daughter of former Southport MP Peter Lawlor, acknowledged the opposition leader’s past two and a half decades’ worth of service to the community.
“It’s a hard gig,” she said. “Back in 2018, I was told that Dickson was not winnable, and it wouldn’t be winnable until Peter Dutton retired … I took all of that in, and went, ‘yeah, nup’.”
The following day, she reflected on her win, recalling her late son’s “furious” reaction after she told him she planned to forgo her political campaign to be by his side.
“He just said to me at the time, he said: ‘Don’t make me the excuse for not doing important things’,” France said. “At times, it’s just been so incredibly hard, but I’ve just always thought of his courage and determination – and happiness – in the face of just insurmountable pain. I feel like I’ve made him proud, and I hope I have.”
In the weeks leading up to election night, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised France as “an outstanding human being”, encouraging voters to “recognise” her as “someone who has shown courage, who has overcome adversity.”
Last year, France lost her eldest son, Henry, to leukaemia. The year before, Henry’s father and her ex-husband, Clive, also died from cancer. In 2011, when France was a young mother, she was a victim of an automobile accident which left her left leg below the knee amputated.
“[She] is putting herself forward not for the first time, not for the second time, but for the third time to look after the local community that she loves,” Albanese said last month. “She won’t leave in a time of crisis. Ali France was there, packing those sandbags to look after her local community … I wish her well, and everyone I know who’s had contact with Ali France over a long period of time has been supportive of her.”
Seven women win seats for Labor in Queensland
In Queensland, six other female Labor candidates won seats — most of them nabbing electorates previously held by the LNP or the Greens: Emma Comer (Petrie), Kara Cook (Bonner), Madonna Jarrett (Brisbane), Renee Coffey (Griffith), Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton) and Corinne Mulholland (Queensland).
Speaking together on Sunday at a press event, re-elected Lilley MP and sports minister Anika Wells joined the seven women, telling reporters: “We have gone from one woman in the house to seven women in the house. We now have enough for an entire netball team and we are here if you need.”
“It is such a powerful picture that you see here,” she said. “Not just that we chose to preselect women, but these women represent their communities. As a woman who has had three very long years as the only Queensland woman on that flight from Brisbane to Canberra, I could not be more thrilled to have these women behind me joining me on that flight now to represent their communities in the national parliament. We have gone from one woman in the house, to seven women in the house – we now have enough for an entire netball team and we are here if you need.”
“I will be an MP for everyone in Dixon,” France said at the press event. “My door will always be open.”
Griffith’s Renee Coffey said she would “absolutely commit” to put her community first, adding “I will work for fairness…I will be a sensible voice for progress in our community.” Coffey defeated Greens’ MP Max Chandler-Mather, winning by a margin of 10.5 per cent.
In her second attempt, Madonna Jarrett won the seat of Brisbane, which was also previously held by the Greens. “I intend to be your representative, your voice in Canberra and to represent the issues that are importance in our community,” she said on Sunday.
In the seat of Bonner, LNP’s Ross Vasta lost to Kara Cook, a lawyer and former Brisbane City Councillor. “I commit to the people of Bonner, I will work every single day,” Cook said. “I am there for them and to serve their needs.”
Albanese has previously described Cook as “a fantastic candidate for Bonner.”
“She’s experienced. She has represented this community on the Brisbane City Council. She’s someone who is a local, someone who’s absolutely committed to making a difference as part of a second term Labor Government,” he said.
Julie-Ann Campbell, who replaced Graham Perrett in the seat of Moreton last August, helped Labor retain its margin, beating LNP’s Henry Swindon by 25,600 votes.
“I am incredibly proud to be given the opportunity to represent the South side,” Campbell said on Sunday.
Former Officer Cadet Emma Comer took the north Brisbane seat of Petrie off the LNP. “I’m absolutely privileged to be here today and I’d even be more honoured to be down in Parliament, representing the needs of Petrie in Canberra,” Comer said.
Finally, self-described “mum from the outer ‘burbs” Corinne Mulholland won back a second Senate seat for Labor.
“I want a team that’s going to show up, speak up, and fight for Queensland,” she said. “That’s exactly what they’re going to get to this team behind me. A team that’s going to deliver cheaper childcare, more free visits to the GP, a tax cut for all Australians, energy bill relief and so much more.”
It appears that Rhiannyn Douglas might also be on the verge of being added to the list of female Labor candidates taking seats away from LNP. In the seat of Longman, she currently leads by more than 300 votes, just slightly ahead of LNP’s Terry Young.
Labor women sweep Tasmania
In Tasmania, Labor also delivered a series of victories, with four female candidates nabbing the state’s five federal seats.
Rebecca White (Lyons), Jess Teesdale (Bass), Anne Urquhart (Braddon) and Julie Collins (Franklin) are celebrating their wins, and will join Independent Andrew Wilkie (Clarke) in representing Tasmania in Canberra.
In Bass, Jess Teesdale wrestled the seat from incumbent Liberal MP Bridget Archer with a swing of over 11 per cent to Labor. The former teacher and first-time candidate attributed her win as “a reflection on Peter Dutton.”
“Everyone we talked to in Bass, no-one was willing to take the risk on Dutton, and this is the result of that,” Teesdale said on Saturday night. In Braddon, Anne Urquhart also took power from Liberal hands, claiming the seat with a 15 per cent swing.
Former Tasmanian Labor leader and first-time federal candidate Rebecca White secured Lyons, succeeding retiring member Brian Mitchell.
“This campaign would be won by the margin of our effort, and what a massive effort it has been,” she said.
Meanwhile, Julie Collins retained her seat of Franklin, beating independent Peter George and the Liberal candidate, Josh Garvin.
Independents retain seats
In Western Australia, teal independent Kate Chaney retained her seat of Curtin on a narrow 1.3 per cent margin. Chaney told ABC Radio Perth that she was relieved voters did not buy into the Liberal Party’s “negative” campaign against her.
“It was really tough, the level of negativity and personal attacks that came out of the liberals was pretty intense,” she said. “We really stuck with the positive message and I’m so relieved to see that people see through the negative campaigning.”
Independents including Zali Steggall, Sophie Scamps and Allegra Spender have retained their seats in Sydney.
In Fremantle, a historically safe Labor seat, independent Kate Hulett appears to be close to taking the seat from Labor’s Josh Wilson. The local businesswoman, who is supported by Climate-200, is currently leading the polls by just a few votes. This is her second attempt at securing the seat, after narrowly losing the port city seat at the recent state election.
In the seat of Bullwinkel, a newly added electorate in this election, Labor’s Trish Cook appears to be ahead at this stage, just slightly ahead of the Liberals Matt Moran.
In NSW, Labor’s Sally Sitou held onto the seat of Reid, gaining 62.36 per cent of the vote with a swing of over seven per cent. Labor MP Anne Stanley held on to her seat of Werriwa, while independent MP Dai Le held onto her seat of Fowler.
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