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'They weren't threatening but they were very clear': what the Chinese said during their visit to Newcastle

'They weren't threatening but they were very clear': what the Chinese said during their visit to Newcastle

The Advertiser24-07-2025
Newcastle Lord Mayor Ross Kerridge admits he was "a bit surprised" the subjects of Tibet, Taiwan and nuclear submarines arose during a meeting with Chinese Consul General Wang Yu, which had been pitched as a 'meet and greet'.
The same issues were again raised during a lunch with Hunter union representatives following the meeting.
Last Thursday's meeting with the Lord Mayor, chief of staff Gina Hanson and government relations manager Nikki Taylor had been scheduled with the recently appointed Consul General about six weeks ago.
No agenda was provided, and no other councillors, nor members of the City of Newcastle's executive leadership team, were present.
After exchanging pleasantries and engaging in a general discussion about the city, the delegation proactively raised their country's position on Tibet and Taiwan.
"We talked about Tibet and how many Tibetans live in Newcastle. I said, yes, there is a Tibetan community in Newcastle and they don't cause any trouble," Cr Kerridge said.
"They talked about their position on Taiwan in much the same way.
"I was a bit surprised; they weren't threatening, but they were very clear."
The conversation then moved to whether Newcastle was going to be a nuclear submarine base.
"I remarked that Newcastle Council's long-standing policy is that we are a non-nuclear city, but that any decision about a submarine base would be a matter for the state and federal governments. He did explain that a submarine base in Newcastle would make China less interested in investing in the area," Cr Kerridge said.
Cr Kerridge said that, while he was satisfied with how he handled the conversation, he said he would have sought advice if he had been aware the contentious issues were going to be raised.
"If they had said that they wanted to talk about those things, we would have sought advice. By putting it on the agenda, it would have been more than just, 'this is our position', Cr Kerridge said.
Cr Kerridge said the meeting highlighted the need for the council to develop an external relations policy.
'As I see it, part of our role is to liaise with groups like this. You should have a standard approach about what you engage in and how you do it."
Minutes of the meeting were circulated to councillors and subsequently leaked to the Daily Telegraph.
"(Leaking the minutes) doesn't help our relationship with China. It's important that we are polite and respectful to all countries," Cr Kerridge said.
The lord mayor's second-in-charge, Liberal deputy lord mayor Callum Pull, said he was left in the dark about the meeting with the Chinese diplomat.
Cr Pull said it was "made clear" to the lord mayor that the meeting should be reported to Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong.
"Reading the record of this meeting immediately rang alarm bells," he said.
"I and other councillors have questioned why we were not informed of, or invited to the meeting, and why the meeting occurred with apparently no agenda, stated intent or clear purpose."
The Newcastle Herald understands at least one other councillor was invited to the meeting.
Since Cr Kerridge's election, he has held meetings with Kongsberg Defence Australia, the Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, Newcastle Airport, the Port of Newcastle and the Hunter Defence Task Force.
Defence has signed an $850 million contract with Kongsberg to establish Australia's first guided weapons production factory at Williamtown.
Liberal Senator Maria Kovacic, duty senator for the Hunter, has publicly stated that the meeting should "ring alarm bells at the highest levels of government".
Cr Pull said the Opposition's concerns about the matter are "well-founded" as it is unclear whether the lord mayor was exposed to sensitive information concerning national security at prior meetings.
"I encourage the Commonwealth to take all necessary steps to assess and respond to any potential national security risks this meeting may have caused," he said.
"I am also deeply concerned about what seem to be threats if we support the Tibetan or Taiwanese communities.
"As councillors, we should support all communities regardless of their ethnic background."
Following the meeting with the Lord Mayor, the Chinese delegation met with Hunter union representatives for lunch at the Dockyard Hotel in Honeysuckle.
Hunter Workers secretary Leigh Shears said the lunch followed a dinner he had recently attended at the Chinese embassy with members of the South Coast Labour Council to commemorate the 1938 Dalfram Dispute.
"The dinner was the initial contact for us. We saw the delegation's visit to Newcastle as an opportunity to establish a relationship with the Chinese companies that own 21 per cent of our electricity assets, are a major owner of coal assets in our region as well as the port," Hunter Workers Secretary Leigh Shears said.
"From our perspective, those were the things we wanted to talk to them about."
Mr Shears confirmed the issues of Tibet, Taiwan and nuclear submarines were raised.
"They didn't go into detail about their positions or what their concerns were. They said there is a Tibetan community here in Newcastle. Do you know them?
"I said I don't know personally and we left it at that. They didn't raise it in a confrontational way and it wasn't awkward."
Hunter Workers presented the delegation with a framed print of Newcastle Trades Hall secretary George Bass leaving Newcastle Courthouse with Chinese seafarers during the 1937 Silksworth Dispute at the Port of Newcastle.
Newcastle Lord Mayor Ross Kerridge admits he was "a bit surprised" the subjects of Tibet, Taiwan and nuclear submarines arose during a meeting with Chinese Consul General Wang Yu, which had been pitched as a 'meet and greet'.
The same issues were again raised during a lunch with Hunter union representatives following the meeting.
Last Thursday's meeting with the Lord Mayor, chief of staff Gina Hanson and government relations manager Nikki Taylor had been scheduled with the recently appointed Consul General about six weeks ago.
No agenda was provided, and no other councillors, nor members of the City of Newcastle's executive leadership team, were present.
After exchanging pleasantries and engaging in a general discussion about the city, the delegation proactively raised their country's position on Tibet and Taiwan.
"We talked about Tibet and how many Tibetans live in Newcastle. I said, yes, there is a Tibetan community in Newcastle and they don't cause any trouble," Cr Kerridge said.
"They talked about their position on Taiwan in much the same way.
"I was a bit surprised; they weren't threatening, but they were very clear."
The conversation then moved to whether Newcastle was going to be a nuclear submarine base.
"I remarked that Newcastle Council's long-standing policy is that we are a non-nuclear city, but that any decision about a submarine base would be a matter for the state and federal governments. He did explain that a submarine base in Newcastle would make China less interested in investing in the area," Cr Kerridge said.
Cr Kerridge said that, while he was satisfied with how he handled the conversation, he said he would have sought advice if he had been aware the contentious issues were going to be raised.
"If they had said that they wanted to talk about those things, we would have sought advice. By putting it on the agenda, it would have been more than just, 'this is our position', Cr Kerridge said.
Cr Kerridge said the meeting highlighted the need for the council to develop an external relations policy.
'As I see it, part of our role is to liaise with groups like this. You should have a standard approach about what you engage in and how you do it."
Minutes of the meeting were circulated to councillors and subsequently leaked to the Daily Telegraph.
"(Leaking the minutes) doesn't help our relationship with China. It's important that we are polite and respectful to all countries," Cr Kerridge said.
The lord mayor's second-in-charge, Liberal deputy lord mayor Callum Pull, said he was left in the dark about the meeting with the Chinese diplomat.
Cr Pull said it was "made clear" to the lord mayor that the meeting should be reported to Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong.
"Reading the record of this meeting immediately rang alarm bells," he said.
"I and other councillors have questioned why we were not informed of, or invited to the meeting, and why the meeting occurred with apparently no agenda, stated intent or clear purpose."
The Newcastle Herald understands at least one other councillor was invited to the meeting.
Since Cr Kerridge's election, he has held meetings with Kongsberg Defence Australia, the Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, Newcastle Airport, the Port of Newcastle and the Hunter Defence Task Force.
Defence has signed an $850 million contract with Kongsberg to establish Australia's first guided weapons production factory at Williamtown.
Liberal Senator Maria Kovacic, duty senator for the Hunter, has publicly stated that the meeting should "ring alarm bells at the highest levels of government".
Cr Pull said the Opposition's concerns about the matter are "well-founded" as it is unclear whether the lord mayor was exposed to sensitive information concerning national security at prior meetings.
"I encourage the Commonwealth to take all necessary steps to assess and respond to any potential national security risks this meeting may have caused," he said.
"I am also deeply concerned about what seem to be threats if we support the Tibetan or Taiwanese communities.
"As councillors, we should support all communities regardless of their ethnic background."
Following the meeting with the Lord Mayor, the Chinese delegation met with Hunter union representatives for lunch at the Dockyard Hotel in Honeysuckle.
Hunter Workers secretary Leigh Shears said the lunch followed a dinner he had recently attended at the Chinese embassy with members of the South Coast Labour Council to commemorate the 1938 Dalfram Dispute.
"The dinner was the initial contact for us. We saw the delegation's visit to Newcastle as an opportunity to establish a relationship with the Chinese companies that own 21 per cent of our electricity assets, are a major owner of coal assets in our region as well as the port," Hunter Workers Secretary Leigh Shears said.
"From our perspective, those were the things we wanted to talk to them about."
Mr Shears confirmed the issues of Tibet, Taiwan and nuclear submarines were raised.
"They didn't go into detail about their positions or what their concerns were. They said there is a Tibetan community here in Newcastle. Do you know them?
"I said I don't know personally and we left it at that. They didn't raise it in a confrontational way and it wasn't awkward."
Hunter Workers presented the delegation with a framed print of Newcastle Trades Hall secretary George Bass leaving Newcastle Courthouse with Chinese seafarers during the 1937 Silksworth Dispute at the Port of Newcastle.
Newcastle Lord Mayor Ross Kerridge admits he was "a bit surprised" the subjects of Tibet, Taiwan and nuclear submarines arose during a meeting with Chinese Consul General Wang Yu, which had been pitched as a 'meet and greet'.
The same issues were again raised during a lunch with Hunter union representatives following the meeting.
Last Thursday's meeting with the Lord Mayor, chief of staff Gina Hanson and government relations manager Nikki Taylor had been scheduled with the recently appointed Consul General about six weeks ago.
No agenda was provided, and no other councillors, nor members of the City of Newcastle's executive leadership team, were present.
After exchanging pleasantries and engaging in a general discussion about the city, the delegation proactively raised their country's position on Tibet and Taiwan.
"We talked about Tibet and how many Tibetans live in Newcastle. I said, yes, there is a Tibetan community in Newcastle and they don't cause any trouble," Cr Kerridge said.
"They talked about their position on Taiwan in much the same way.
"I was a bit surprised; they weren't threatening, but they were very clear."
The conversation then moved to whether Newcastle was going to be a nuclear submarine base.
"I remarked that Newcastle Council's long-standing policy is that we are a non-nuclear city, but that any decision about a submarine base would be a matter for the state and federal governments. He did explain that a submarine base in Newcastle would make China less interested in investing in the area," Cr Kerridge said.
Cr Kerridge said that, while he was satisfied with how he handled the conversation, he said he would have sought advice if he had been aware the contentious issues were going to be raised.
"If they had said that they wanted to talk about those things, we would have sought advice. By putting it on the agenda, it would have been more than just, 'this is our position', Cr Kerridge said.
Cr Kerridge said the meeting highlighted the need for the council to develop an external relations policy.
'As I see it, part of our role is to liaise with groups like this. You should have a standard approach about what you engage in and how you do it."
Minutes of the meeting were circulated to councillors and subsequently leaked to the Daily Telegraph.
"(Leaking the minutes) doesn't help our relationship with China. It's important that we are polite and respectful to all countries," Cr Kerridge said.
The lord mayor's second-in-charge, Liberal deputy lord mayor Callum Pull, said he was left in the dark about the meeting with the Chinese diplomat.
Cr Pull said it was "made clear" to the lord mayor that the meeting should be reported to Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong.
"Reading the record of this meeting immediately rang alarm bells," he said.
"I and other councillors have questioned why we were not informed of, or invited to the meeting, and why the meeting occurred with apparently no agenda, stated intent or clear purpose."
The Newcastle Herald understands at least one other councillor was invited to the meeting.
Since Cr Kerridge's election, he has held meetings with Kongsberg Defence Australia, the Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, Newcastle Airport, the Port of Newcastle and the Hunter Defence Task Force.
Defence has signed an $850 million contract with Kongsberg to establish Australia's first guided weapons production factory at Williamtown.
Liberal Senator Maria Kovacic, duty senator for the Hunter, has publicly stated that the meeting should "ring alarm bells at the highest levels of government".
Cr Pull said the Opposition's concerns about the matter are "well-founded" as it is unclear whether the lord mayor was exposed to sensitive information concerning national security at prior meetings.
"I encourage the Commonwealth to take all necessary steps to assess and respond to any potential national security risks this meeting may have caused," he said.
"I am also deeply concerned about what seem to be threats if we support the Tibetan or Taiwanese communities.
"As councillors, we should support all communities regardless of their ethnic background."
Following the meeting with the Lord Mayor, the Chinese delegation met with Hunter union representatives for lunch at the Dockyard Hotel in Honeysuckle.
Hunter Workers secretary Leigh Shears said the lunch followed a dinner he had recently attended at the Chinese embassy with members of the South Coast Labour Council to commemorate the 1938 Dalfram Dispute.
"The dinner was the initial contact for us. We saw the delegation's visit to Newcastle as an opportunity to establish a relationship with the Chinese companies that own 21 per cent of our electricity assets, are a major owner of coal assets in our region as well as the port," Hunter Workers Secretary Leigh Shears said.
"From our perspective, those were the things we wanted to talk to them about."
Mr Shears confirmed the issues of Tibet, Taiwan and nuclear submarines were raised.
"They didn't go into detail about their positions or what their concerns were. They said there is a Tibetan community here in Newcastle. Do you know them?
"I said I don't know personally and we left it at that. They didn't raise it in a confrontational way and it wasn't awkward."
Hunter Workers presented the delegation with a framed print of Newcastle Trades Hall secretary George Bass leaving Newcastle Courthouse with Chinese seafarers during the 1937 Silksworth Dispute at the Port of Newcastle.
Newcastle Lord Mayor Ross Kerridge admits he was "a bit surprised" the subjects of Tibet, Taiwan and nuclear submarines arose during a meeting with Chinese Consul General Wang Yu, which had been pitched as a 'meet and greet'.
The same issues were again raised during a lunch with Hunter union representatives following the meeting.
Last Thursday's meeting with the Lord Mayor, chief of staff Gina Hanson and government relations manager Nikki Taylor had been scheduled with the recently appointed Consul General about six weeks ago.
No agenda was provided, and no other councillors, nor members of the City of Newcastle's executive leadership team, were present.
After exchanging pleasantries and engaging in a general discussion about the city, the delegation proactively raised their country's position on Tibet and Taiwan.
"We talked about Tibet and how many Tibetans live in Newcastle. I said, yes, there is a Tibetan community in Newcastle and they don't cause any trouble," Cr Kerridge said.
"They talked about their position on Taiwan in much the same way.
"I was a bit surprised; they weren't threatening, but they were very clear."
The conversation then moved to whether Newcastle was going to be a nuclear submarine base.
"I remarked that Newcastle Council's long-standing policy is that we are a non-nuclear city, but that any decision about a submarine base would be a matter for the state and federal governments. He did explain that a submarine base in Newcastle would make China less interested in investing in the area," Cr Kerridge said.
Cr Kerridge said that, while he was satisfied with how he handled the conversation, he said he would have sought advice if he had been aware the contentious issues were going to be raised.
"If they had said that they wanted to talk about those things, we would have sought advice. By putting it on the agenda, it would have been more than just, 'this is our position', Cr Kerridge said.
Cr Kerridge said the meeting highlighted the need for the council to develop an external relations policy.
'As I see it, part of our role is to liaise with groups like this. You should have a standard approach about what you engage in and how you do it."
Minutes of the meeting were circulated to councillors and subsequently leaked to the Daily Telegraph.
"(Leaking the minutes) doesn't help our relationship with China. It's important that we are polite and respectful to all countries," Cr Kerridge said.
The lord mayor's second-in-charge, Liberal deputy lord mayor Callum Pull, said he was left in the dark about the meeting with the Chinese diplomat.
Cr Pull said it was "made clear" to the lord mayor that the meeting should be reported to Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong.
"Reading the record of this meeting immediately rang alarm bells," he said.
"I and other councillors have questioned why we were not informed of, or invited to the meeting, and why the meeting occurred with apparently no agenda, stated intent or clear purpose."
The Newcastle Herald understands at least one other councillor was invited to the meeting.
Since Cr Kerridge's election, he has held meetings with Kongsberg Defence Australia, the Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, Newcastle Airport, the Port of Newcastle and the Hunter Defence Task Force.
Defence has signed an $850 million contract with Kongsberg to establish Australia's first guided weapons production factory at Williamtown.
Liberal Senator Maria Kovacic, duty senator for the Hunter, has publicly stated that the meeting should "ring alarm bells at the highest levels of government".
Cr Pull said the Opposition's concerns about the matter are "well-founded" as it is unclear whether the lord mayor was exposed to sensitive information concerning national security at prior meetings.
"I encourage the Commonwealth to take all necessary steps to assess and respond to any potential national security risks this meeting may have caused," he said.
"I am also deeply concerned about what seem to be threats if we support the Tibetan or Taiwanese communities.
"As councillors, we should support all communities regardless of their ethnic background."
Following the meeting with the Lord Mayor, the Chinese delegation met with Hunter union representatives for lunch at the Dockyard Hotel in Honeysuckle.
Hunter Workers secretary Leigh Shears said the lunch followed a dinner he had recently attended at the Chinese embassy with members of the South Coast Labour Council to commemorate the 1938 Dalfram Dispute.
"The dinner was the initial contact for us. We saw the delegation's visit to Newcastle as an opportunity to establish a relationship with the Chinese companies that own 21 per cent of our electricity assets, are a major owner of coal assets in our region as well as the port," Hunter Workers Secretary Leigh Shears said.
"From our perspective, those were the things we wanted to talk to them about."
Mr Shears confirmed the issues of Tibet, Taiwan and nuclear submarines were raised.
"They didn't go into detail about their positions or what their concerns were. They said there is a Tibetan community here in Newcastle. Do you know them?
"I said I don't know personally and we left it at that. They didn't raise it in a confrontational way and it wasn't awkward."
Hunter Workers presented the delegation with a framed print of Newcastle Trades Hall secretary George Bass leaving Newcastle Courthouse with Chinese seafarers during the 1937 Silksworth Dispute at the Port of Newcastle.
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Exasperated that Putin did not heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, Trump, almost two weeks ago, moved up his ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement. It was unclear what steps Trump intended to take on Friday. When asked on Thursday whether his deadline would hold, Trump said of Putin: "It's going to be up to him. We're going to see what he has to say. It's going to be up to him. Very disappointed." Trump's efforts to pressure Putin into stopping the fighting have so far delivered no progress. Russia's bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armour while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. Russia and Ukraine stand far apart on their terms for peace. Ukrainian forces are locked in intense battles along the 1000-kilometre front line that snakes from northeast to southeast Ukraine. The Pokrovsk area of the eastern Donetsk region is taking the brunt of punishment as Russia seeks to break out into the neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine has significant manpower shortages. Intense fighting is also taking place in Ukraine's northern Sumy border region, where Ukrainian forces are engaging Russian soldiers to prevent reinforcements from being sent from there to Donetsk. In the Pokrovsk area of Donetsk, a commander said he believes Moscow isn't interested in peace. "I would like them to agree and for all this to stop, but Russia will not agree to that. It does not want to negotiate. So the only option is to defeat them," he said. In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a howitzer commander using the call sign Warsaw said troops are determined to thwart Russia's invasion. "We are on our land, we have no way out," he said. The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin had a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, during which the Russian leader informed Xi about the results of his meeting earlier this week with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff. Kremlin officials said Xi "expressed support for the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis on a long-term basis". Putin is due to visit China next month. China, along with North Korea and Iran, have provided military support for Russia's war effort, the US says. Trump said on Thursday that he would meet with Putin even if the Russian leader would not meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy. That stoked fears in Europe that Ukraine could be sidelined in efforts to stop the continent's biggest conflict since World War II. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday that Europe should take the lead in efforts to end the conflict. Orbán said the leaders of Germany and France should go to Moscow "to negotiate on behalf of Europe". The White House said it was still working through the details of any potential meetings between Trump and Putin. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said in an assessment Thursday that "Putin remains uninterested in ending his war and is attempting to extract bilateral concessions from the United States without meaningfully engaging in a peace process". "Putin continues to believe that time is on Russia's side and that Russia can outlast Ukraine and the West," it said. Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield express little hope for a diplomatic solution to the war, as US President Donald Trump's deadline arrived for the Kremlin to make peace and he eyed a possible summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Moscow's invasion. Exasperated that Putin did not heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, Trump, almost two weeks ago, moved up his ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement. It was unclear what steps Trump intended to take on Friday. When asked on Thursday whether his deadline would hold, Trump said of Putin: "It's going to be up to him. We're going to see what he has to say. It's going to be up to him. Very disappointed." Trump's efforts to pressure Putin into stopping the fighting have so far delivered no progress. Russia's bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armour while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. Russia and Ukraine stand far apart on their terms for peace. Ukrainian forces are locked in intense battles along the 1000-kilometre front line that snakes from northeast to southeast Ukraine. The Pokrovsk area of the eastern Donetsk region is taking the brunt of punishment as Russia seeks to break out into the neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine has significant manpower shortages. Intense fighting is also taking place in Ukraine's northern Sumy border region, where Ukrainian forces are engaging Russian soldiers to prevent reinforcements from being sent from there to Donetsk. In the Pokrovsk area of Donetsk, a commander said he believes Moscow isn't interested in peace. "I would like them to agree and for all this to stop, but Russia will not agree to that. It does not want to negotiate. So the only option is to defeat them," he said. In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a howitzer commander using the call sign Warsaw said troops are determined to thwart Russia's invasion. "We are on our land, we have no way out," he said. The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin had a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, during which the Russian leader informed Xi about the results of his meeting earlier this week with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff. Kremlin officials said Xi "expressed support for the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis on a long-term basis". Putin is due to visit China next month. China, along with North Korea and Iran, have provided military support for Russia's war effort, the US says. Trump said on Thursday that he would meet with Putin even if the Russian leader would not meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy. That stoked fears in Europe that Ukraine could be sidelined in efforts to stop the continent's biggest conflict since World War II. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday that Europe should take the lead in efforts to end the conflict. Orbán said the leaders of Germany and France should go to Moscow "to negotiate on behalf of Europe". The White House said it was still working through the details of any potential meetings between Trump and Putin. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said in an assessment Thursday that "Putin remains uninterested in ending his war and is attempting to extract bilateral concessions from the United States without meaningfully engaging in a peace process". "Putin continues to believe that time is on Russia's side and that Russia can outlast Ukraine and the West," it said.

Big update in battle for coveted Sydney seat
Big update in battle for coveted Sydney seat

The Australian

time13 hours ago

  • The Australian

Big update in battle for coveted Sydney seat

Around 150 disputed ballot papers will be the focus of a trial to decide if Liberal challenger Gisele Kapterian can overturn an election result against her Teal independent challenger. Nicolette Boele was awarded the seat of Bradfield in north Sydney by 26 votes, or 50.01 per cent of the two candidate preferred, at May's federal election. Ms Kapterian's legal challenge in the Court of Disputed Returns began on Friday, with Chief Justice Stephen Gageler referring the trial to the Federal Court in NSW. 'The trial will primarily be concerned with the formality of in excess of 150 disputed ballot papers,' he said. The ballot papers will now be re-examined to ensure all numbers were legible. While Ms Kapterian is challenging the Australian Electoral Commission's decision to award Ms Boele the seat, Ms Boele will remain the representative for Bradfield. Liberal Candidate Gisele Kapterian has challenged the results posed in 150 disputed ballot papers. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard Ms Boele has been sworn into parliament, and delivered her maiden speech in the House of Representatives. Ahead of the Friday's hearing she vowed to continue to serve her electorate. 'This is the next step in Australia's strong and trusted democratic process,' she said. 'I have every confidence in the court, the AEC, and the integrity of their work. 'While the court challenge proceeds, I'm focused on delivering the genuine representation Bradfield voted for.' She has also sought donations from her community to cover the legal costs of the court case, while vowing to either return the money or donate the funds to a nominated cause if the Liberal Party is ordered to pay her costs. The battle for Bradfield comes after a whirlwind count, which initially awarded the electorate in Ms Kapterian's favour on a margin of eight votes. However the ultra-slim margin, under 100 votes, triggered an automatic recount, which declared Ms Boele the winner. Independent MP for Bradfield, Nicolette Boele will retain the seat until the court makes its decision. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman The result was then challenged by Ms Kapterian about 10 weeks following the election on July 15, largely on the premise of the conflicting counts. The Liberal hopeful said her court bid was not about challenging the 'integrity of our electoral system' but was done to ensure 'the intentions of the voters of Bradfield are accurately reflected in the final count'. Ms Kapterian's legal team has not asked for the election result to be made void, which would trigger a by-election. 'Pursuing this final step will provide collective confidence that the final result reflects the true wishes of the voters in Bradfield and remove any remaining doubt created by the two conflicting counts,' she said previously. 'Every vote counts'. This year's May 3 election was the first time the blue-ribbon electorate has been held by a non-Liberal MP. It was previously held by former minister Paul Fletcher who retired ahead of the 2025 poll. Jessica Wang NewsWire Federal Politics Reporter Jessica Wang is a federal politics reporter for NewsWire based in the Canberra Press Gallery. She previously covered NSW state politics for the Wire and has also worked at and Mamamia covering breaking news, entertainment, and lifestyle. @imjesswang_ Jessica Wang

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