In an election which saw Labor embarrassed in what can rightly be described as a state-wide bloodbath, the inner-city seats of Sydney were for the most part a nail-biting affair.
The results were always going to be interesting with all but one of the seats not a clear Labor versus Liberal affair. In spite of the pundits predictions, the Greens performance was underwhelming in Marrickville and Balmain, Balmain being the seat that everyone is still watching well after election night, and Sydney almost saw a huge upset as the Independent member breathed a sigh of relief after the Liberal candidate nearly pulled off the unthinkable.
Sydney
Sydney’s Independent member and Lord Mayor Clover Moore hung on to the seat of Sydney by a slim margin. The result saw a swing of around ten per cent against the incumbent as Liberal candidate Adrian Bartels picked up 35.3 per cent of the first preference vote to Moore’s 38.2 per cent. The Labor candidate Sacha Blumen suffered a loss of around half the votes garnered in the 2007 election, being reduced to just 10.6 per cent of first preference, with Greens candidate De Brierly Newton scraping past Blumen into third place with 12.4 per cent.
Ms Moore has held the seat since 1988 when it was still known as Bligh.
“Despite a massive 17 per cent swing to the Liberals across the state on the night of the election and the fact that I represent areas that have traditional Liberal leaning voters such as Woollahra, Elizabeth Bay and Potts Point, my primary vote was only reduced by three per cent,” Ms Moore said.
“It’s a very strong result in the face of months of sustained attacks by some radio shock jocks and deliberate misrepresentations on issues like alcohol related late night violence and cycleways.”
Heffron
Heffron saw former premier Kristina Keneally’s 23.7 per cent margin slashed by 15.8 per cent. At 7.9 per cent Heffron is now considered a Labor stronghold in the state. Keneally pulled in42.7 per cent with her closest opposition coming from the Liberal parties Patrice Pandeleos who gained 33.1 per cent.
Ms Keneally stepped down from the leadership of the Labor party, a position she held for less than 18 months, accepting full responsibility for the disastrous result.
“I can announce that I will not contest the leadership of the party,” she said. “Tonight the ALP has suffered a significant loss, there is no hiding from that.”
Ms Keneally’s immediate future will be amongst the backbenches of the now opposition party.
Balmain
“Balmain is turning into the most interesting seat of the election,” Ben Raue of The Tally Room blog said on Saturday night. “At the moment all three candidates are polling around 30 per cent. The order of elimination will decide who wins, and this is complicated by a vote of 3 per cent for Maire Sheehan, a left-leaning independent who preferenced Labor candidate Verity Firth. Her votes could determine who comes third. It doesn’t appear that James Falk can win, but if he comes in the top two, the other person in the top two should win.”
The contest is still in doubt and will most certainly come down to only a handful of votes, at this stage Verity Firth is favourite to hold onto the seat which was predicted to be a walkover for Greens Leichhardt mayor Jamie Parker.
Marrickville
Defying the odds sitting MP Carmel Tebbutt managed to do what many of her Labor colleagues failed to do, hold on to power. The bookies had backed Greens candidate Fiona Byrne to win the seat but on the day Ms Tebbutt scored 39.9 per cent of the first preference vote to Ms Byrne’s 35.4 per cent. The swing against Ms Tebbutt was 5.2 per cent.
Marrickville had the honour of being this elections “dirty tricks” capital, complete with swastikas and push polls, the fight for the seat was hard fought.
Ms Tebbutt now finds herself on the opposition benches with what’s left of the Labor government.
