Teal Boele set to defeat Liberal in Bradfield recount
Teal independent Nicolette Boele is poised to win the seat of Bradfield after a full recount but could face a legal challenge from Liberals seeking a fresh election.
Sources familiar with the progress of the count said on Wednesday that Boele's lead – currently 27 votes – was holding with just a handful of remaining challenges to ballots to be decided before the result is announced by the Australian Electoral Commission.
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News.com.au
31 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Liberals still considering challenge on Bradfield election loss, says James Paterson
Coalition senator James Paterson says the NSW Liberal Party is still deciding whether to challenge the outcome of the prized Sydney seat of Bradfield, adding that he hopes Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian will be included in the 42nd parliament. Despite leading the initial count by eight votes, Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian lost to Climate 200 backed independent Nicolette Boele by just 26 votes in the ensuing recount. The state branch will have until 40 days after the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) returns the writs, which the body must do before July 9. Speaking to the ABC on Sunday, Senator Paterson said it would be a matter for the NSW Liberal branch as well as Ms Kapterian, and said no decision has been made as of yet. 'I understand the NSW Liberal Party is reviewing our legal options and I really hope that we can find a way to have Giselle Kapterian in the parliament in this term because she's exactly the kind of person that would make the Liberal Party better, the parliament better and our country better,' he said. 'She's got great insights, great professional experience, she's a person I hope to be playing a big role in the future of our party. 'But it will be up to the NSW division and then ultimately if we do decide to make any application, the Court of Disputed Returns to decide that.' Senator Paterson also said a potential challenge wouldn't necessarily result in a by-election. He pointed to the 2007 election result of McEwen where a Labor challenge at the Court of Disputed Returns focused on the validity of the informal ballots. However the Court ultimately dismissed the case and awarded the seat to then Liberal MP Fran Bailey. The former Salesforce executive has also been given the assistant shadow portfolios for communications, and technology and the digital economy, and her loss would trigger a minor shadow cabinet shuffle. As recently as Thursday, incumbent Bradfield MP Nicolette Boele confirmed she had yet to receive a concession call from Ms Kapterian. Considerations behind a potential challenge will be based on the difference in the total number of votes counted between the first and second count, and the fact about 170 previously informal ballot papers had been reclassified and allowed in the recount. A Liberal source also noted that the two counts produced two different votes, with the difference in both counts making up less than 0.02 per cent of the total number of ballots cast across the electorate. Speaking on Sky, Tim Wilson, who is the only Liberal challenger who won a seat from a teal independent, credited his campaign win to running a consistent 'big, bold and ambitious' three-year campaign. 'We captured their sense of hope and aspiration for themselves and their families, and we did it on the basis that people understood that they weren't just voting on the direction of the community … they were also deciding partly the future direction of the Liberal Party, (and) increasingly also the direction of Australia as well,' he said. Following his ousting from the Melbourne seat of Goldstein in 2022, Mr Wilson won the seat back from Zoe Daniels in a precarious count which saw both sides declare themselves the victor before the AEC finalised its count.
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Liberals still considering legal challenge after Bradfield recount flipped seat from Gisele Kapterian to Teal Nicolette Boele
The Liberal Party is still considering a potential legal challenge over the ultra-tight result in the federal seat of Bradfield. The possible appeal comes after a full recount reversed the initial outcome and handed the seat from Liberal Gisele Kapterian to Teal Nicolette Boele by 26 votes. Shadow industrial relations minister Tim Wilson told Sky News Sunday Agenda the decision to refer the matter to the Court of Disputed Returns was up to Ms Kapterian. 'I've heard lots of different details about what has happened in that count,' Mr Wilson said. 'There was a different result after the first count than after the full recount, which, you know, is quite an unusual thing to occur.' Mr Wilson, who himself faced a recount in his seat of Goldstein, noted that while his own recount confirmed the original result, Bradfield's did not. 'They're studying it very closely,' he said. 'It's a big decision—not just to go through that process in a legal context, but then depending on what the court decides, potentially also a by-election as well.' The comments follow confirmation from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) that Ms Boele had won Bradfield by a razor-thin 26-vote margin. The result flipped after the initial result declared Ms Kapterian was the winner by eight votes. Ms Kapterian has so far refused to concede and confirmed on Friday she is taking legal advice. 'This recount has created a different result—while I was ahead at the conclusion of the original count, Ms Boele is now ahead,' she said in a statement on Friday. 'I will now carefully review the two counts.' Senior Liberals are voicing support for Ms Kapterian but stopping short of confirming whether a court application will be filed. Shadow finance minister James Paterson said the New South Wales Liberal Party was reviewing legal options. 'I really hope that we can find a way to have Gisele Kapterian in the Parliament,' Mr Paterson told ABC's Insiders on Sunday. 'She's exactly the type of person to make the Liberal Party better and the Parliament better. 'But it is up to the New South Wales division and ultimately, if we decide to make any application in the Court of Disputed Returns to that.' If the result stands, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley will be forced to find a new shadow assistant minister for technology and the digital economy. The AEC has stood by the integrity of the recount, confirming that only two voters were marked off the roll twice—insufficient to affect the outcome. Any application to the Court of Disputed Returns must be made within 40 days of the official result being declared.
Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Shadow industrial relations minister Tim Wilson backs wage rise but blasts Labor for ‘milking' small business
The Coalition has expressed support for the recent minimum wage increase but warned the Albanese government is failing businesses who must absorb higher labour costs. Shadow industrial relations minister Tim Wilson told Sky News Sunday Agenda that Labor has left small businesses behind due to its economic inaction. 'As Liberals, we always support higher wages. The big question for all of us is, what is the government then doing to help small business to be able to afford them?' Mr Wilson said. 'They're not helping small business on tax, they're not helping small business on regulation. They're not doing anything to improve the overall economic conditions. 'We've just got government milking small business rather than empowering them to be in a position to afford these wage increases.' His remarks follow the Fair Work Commission decision to lift the national minimum wage by 3.5 per cent—equating to an extra $0.84 per hour, bringing the rate to $24.94. The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) has warned the wage increase could tip vulnerable businesses over the edge. 'Ultimately, someone needs to pay here and overwhelmingly that will be small business,' COSBOA CEO Luke Achterstraat said on Tuesday. 'The irony here is that our industrial relations system continues to be a drag on productivity, and that is bad for workers and businesses.' Mr Achterstraat reiterated COSBOA's longstanding call for productivity reform to accompany wage growth. 'We have repeatedly warned that higher wages without higher productivity is a disaster waiting to happen,' he said. 'To ensure that our children don't endure a lower standard of living than us, we need to boost productivity – our workplace settings have a direct impact on this outcome.' Mr Wilson said the real path to higher wages lies in supporting overall business growth, not simply raising minimum wages. 'If the answer to improving wages is seeing small businesses fall over, we're not actually improving opportunities for more jobs, better paid jobs,' he said. 'The Liberal solution to getting wages up is to have small businesses being successful.' Mr Wilson also flagged the need to modernise Australia's industrial relations system to prepare for future challenges, including the rise of artificial intelligence. 'If we don't actually grapple with this and lead into this challenge, we might as a nation find ourselves very much in a position of being uncompetitive,' he warned. 'Labor's outdated thinking around industrial relations is based on the legacy of 19th century thinking. It's not based on where my focus is, which is building an employment environment for the 21st century.' The minimum wage increase will come into effect on July 1.
