Latest news with #AmeliaHamer
News.com.au
12-05-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Teal Monique Ryan claims key Victorian seat of Kooyong from Liberals Amelia Hamer
Liberal candidate for Kooyong Amelia Hamer has conceded defeat to teal independent Monique Ryan, with result taking nine days to finalise. Ms Hamer revealed in a post on her Instagram about 4.30pm on Monday that she had called Dr Ryan to congratulate her on her re-election. 'While counting continues, it is now clear the remaining ballots will not deliver us the majority we need to win the seat,' the post said. Dr Ryan released a statement shortly after, thanking Ms Hamer for her campaign and wishing her the best for the future. 'I am deeply grateful to my family, friends, my incredible team, and the many, many Kooyong volunteers, for their unwavering support over the past three years and throughout this campaign,' Dr Ryan said. 'It's a crucial time for Australia – we're facing a cost-of-living crisis, housing shortages, increasing intergenerational inequity, and our response to the global challenge of climate change has been too slow and too incremental. 'With the Albanese government holding an increased majority, it's time for it to show the courage we need – and respect the mandate given to it by the Australian public – by taking real action on these issues. 'I'm grateful for the opportunity to continue to hold the government to account on the economy, climate, health, and the other critical issues for my community.' Ms Hamer said standing as the Liberal candidate 'has been an honour' and thanked a list of groups who had supported her campaign. 'To the more than 54,811 Kooyong locals who voted for me, thank you for your confidence and trust in me as a potential representative,' she said. 'To those who took the time to speak with me and share your perspectives, values and ideas, thank you. 'To all our incredible volunteers who knocked on countless doors, stood at train stations in the early mornings, and shopping centres on the weekend thank you.' Ms Hamer concluded the post by saying the Liberal values 'like individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and free enterprise', are 'timeless' and 'worth fighting for'. 'We are so lucky to have a beautiful local community, a fair democracy, and a wonderful country,' she said. 'I hope to play my small part in making it a better place, now and into the future.' The battle for the seat of Kooyong was one of the most closely watched of the May 23 election, after controversial moments derailed the campaign for both candidates. As election campaigning began to ramp up in March, Dr Ryan's husband was forced to apologise after he was filmed tearing down a corflute poster belonging to rival candidate Ms Hamer. A month later, Ms Hamer was called out by Nine newspapers for owning properties in Canberra and London, despite claiming to be a renter throughout her election campaign. Dr Ryan claimed Kooyong at the 2022 election, where she controversially booted former treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Dr Ryan was a pediatric neurologist at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne before she entered politics.
ABC News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer concedes Kooyong giving Monique Ryan a second term
Liberal Party candidate Amelia Hamer has conceded defeat in the seat of Kooyong to independent incumbent Monique Ryan. After a tense week of vote counting and preference distribution, Dr Ryan pulled ahead of Ms Hamer by several hundred votes in Melbourne's affluent inner-east. Live results: Find out what's happening in your seat as counting continues Earlier on Monday, ABC chief elections analyst Antony Green called the seat for Dr Ryan, saying that with 90 per cent of the votes counted, Ms Hamer would not be able to take the lead. Late on Monday, Ms Hamer issued a statement on social media saying she had telephoned Dr Ryan to congratulate her on her re-election. "Whilst counting continues, it is now clear that the remaining ballots will not deliver us the majority we need to win the seat," Ms Hamer said. "Standing as the Liberal Candidate for Kooyong has been an honour." Ms Hamer thanked her volunteers and those who voted for her. "We are so lucky to have a beautiful local community, a fair democracy, and a wonderful country," she said. "I hope to play my small part in making it a better place, now and into the future." Ms Hamer earned more than 43 per cent of the first preference vote in the seat, roughly equal to Mr Frydenberg's support in 2022. It will be Dr Ryan's second term in parliament. She said she looked forward to the next three years. "Serving as the Member for Kooyong has been the privilege of a lifetime," Dr Ryan said in a statement. "I'm incredibly honoured to continue in this role, and thank the electorate for this opportunity." Dr Ryan said it was a crucial time for Australia. "We're facing a cost-of-living crisis, housing shortages, increasing intergenerational inequity, and our response to the global challenge of climate change has been too slow and too incremental. "With the Albanese government holding an increased majority, it's time for it to show the courage we need — and respect the mandate given to it by the Australian public — by taking real action on these issues." Dr Ryan won the seat from former federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg after the coalition held it for 70 years. Ms Hamer earned more than 43 per cent of the first preference vote in the seat, roughly equal to Mr Frydenberg's support in 2022. Want even more? Here's where you can find all our 2025 federal election coverage Catch the latest interviews and in-depth coverage on ABC iview and ABC Listen It was a bitter campaign in Kooyong, with Ms Hamer accusing Dr Ryan's volunteers of distributing a "dirt file" on her that included information about the grand-niece of former Victorian premier Rupert Hamer being the beneficiary of a $20 million family trust fund, and Dr Ryan's husband removing an Amelia Hamer poster from a fence. Peter Jordan later apologised for his actions, saying he had believed it had been illegally placed on public property but should have reported it to the local council rather than removing it himself. Ms Hamer was also heavily criticised for describing herself as a renter who understood the challenges of rising rental costs, when it was later revealed she was also a landlord who owned properties in London and Canberra. Ms Hamer's signs again courted controversy after Boroondara council confiscated a number of A-frame posters from a pre-polling centre after they were deemed to be a risk to pedestrian safety and breached rules about having just one sign per candidate. The projection for Kooyong leaves just three seats undecided in the state. Mr Green said counting in Flinders was leaning in favour of the Liberals' Zoe McKenzie. 'There's just a few more absent votes to be counted to clarify the result there,' he said. But he said the counts in Calwell and Monash continued to remain complex. He said the Australian Electoral Commission abandoned the counting of indicative preferences in Calwell as it was impossible to determine who were the top two candidates. "It seems certain that Labor will be one of the final candidates, but who is the other candidates will be determined by the order in which candidates are excluded during the formal distribution of preferences," Mr Green said. "That will take place in about 10 days and Calwell will remain is doubt until the full distribution takes place. At least two independent candidates — Carly Moore and Joseph Youhana — had received primary votes above 10 per cent in the seat, while Labor's Basem Abdo received more than 30 per cent and the Liberals' Usman Ghani had 15 per cent of the vote. The preference count was also not available in Monash. Mary Aldred lead by more than 9,000 votes but Mr Green said it would take the full distribution of preference to work out the final pairing in that seat as well.
The Australian
11-05-2025
- Politics
- The Australian
Teal MP Monique Ryan defeats Amelia Hamer for Kooyong seat
Teal MP Monique Ryan is on track to retain the seat of Kooyong, with Sky News projecting her narrow victory over Liberal challenger Amelia Hamer after a tense week-long count that has gone down to the wire. Dr Ryan holds 50.3 per cent of the two candidate preferred vote, maintaining a narrow lead of 693 votes over Ms Hamer. With about 5000 ballots left to count and the remaining votes breaking evenly, Sky News has declared it unlikely that Ms Hamer will close the gap. Dr Ryan first claimed the historically blue-ribbon seat in 2022, unseating former treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Before entering politics, she was a paediatric neurologist at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne. She was approached for comment on Sunday but did not respond by deadline and did not claim victory. At one point last week, Ms Hamer closed the gap on Dr Ryan to just 366 votes, forcing the Climate 200-backed MP to retract her election night victory claim and warn the seat was now 'too close to call'. Strong postal vote support was powering Ms Hamer's comeback, and while the margin could tighten, Sky News declared there was now enough of a trend to say that Dr Ryan will hold on in a cliffhanger. In terms of first preference votes, latest AEC figures show Ms Hamer secured 43.7 per cent (47,604) of the votes, while Dr Ryan received 34.1 per cent (37,162). Teal MPs will now hold on to five out of six of their existing seats having lost Goldstein. Just days after the election, Ms Hamer admitted she debated conceding defeat not long after the polls closed. 'I actually did speak to the team and I said: 'Look, should I call and concede?'' Ms Hamer told 3AW on May 6. 'The team said to me: 'No, it does look like what's coming out of pre-poll is much more positive. 'I trust my team and so we hung on.' Ms Hamer has been approached for comment. As of 11am on Sunday, the ABC has not yet called the seat in favour of Dr Ryan. Mohammad Alfares Journalist Mohammad Alfares, a journalist and a keen fisherman. Growing up, I would film and edit 'productions' I made with family friends every holiday. Combined with my love of writing and storytelling, being a journalist was the perfect fit! I obtained a Bachelor of Communication at Massey University in New Zealand and was lucky enough to get my first taste of the industry in broadcast journalism. Outside of work, I keep my hunger for adrenaline satisfied by chasing a big fish! I'll also find time to relax too, either with a cup of coffee or enjoying some fresh air and sunshine. Nation Police have seized more than a tonne of cocaine worth over $623 million after intercepting a vessel off the NSW coast, arresting five men in a major sting. Politics Outgoing frontbencher Ed Husic has also suggested he believed his support for Palestine and criticisms of Israel were one of the reasons he lost his spot in the second-term Albanese cabinet.
Sky News AU
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Monique Ryan projected to retain seat of Kooyong
Sky News Australia projects Teal independent Monique Ryan will hold on to the seat of Kooyong in Victoria after a count that has ebbed and flowed for a week after election night. The Climate 200-backed MP has 50.3 per cent of the vote, leading Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer by 693 votes. 5,000 votes remain to be counted, but Sky News Chief Election Analyst Tom Connell says Ms Hamer can't bridge the gap.
Perth Now
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
More than a dozen seats still too close to call
SEAT COUNT IN 2025 FEDERAL ELECTION SEAT NUMBERS * Labor - 87 seats (+9 from 2022 election total) * Coalition - 40 seats (-17) * Greens - 0 seats (-4) * Independents/Minor parties - 10 seats (-1) * Undecided - 13 seats * Vote count as of Wednesday 10am AEST with 79.6 per cent of the national tally counted. *Labor looks set to gain three seats in the Senate and the Liberals go backwards as five seats remain in doubt with 53.3 per cent of the upper house ballots counted. WHERE THE COUNT IS UP TO * Labor sits on 54.62 per cent of the two-party national count with 5,875,519 votes, an increase of 2.49 per cent, according to the Australian Electoral Commission. *The Liberals have 45.38 per cent of the national vote with 4,881,024 ballots. * A mandatory second count of all votes began Tuesday. SEATS STILL IN DOUBT * Kooyong (Vic) - Teal independent MP Monique Ryan leads Liberal Amelia Hamer by 1002 votes with almost 80 per cent of the vote counted. * Bradfield (NSW) - Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian has edged ahead of independent challenger Nicolette Boele by 178 votes, with just over 86 per cent of the vote counted. * Bullwinkel (WA) - Labor's Trish Cook leads Liberal Matt Moran by just 50 votes with 80 per cent counted as the country's newest seat rests on a knife's edge. * Melbourne (Vic) - Greens leader Adam Bandt has fallen behind Labor candidate Sarah Witty in the count by 4043 votes with just over two-thirds of ballots counted. * Fremantle (WA) - Labor could lose one of its safest seats with MP Josh Wilson edging of challenger Kate Hulett by 255 votes after a 16.7 per cent swing to the independent. * Bean (ACT) - Labor MP David Smith is also in jeopardy from an independent in his formerly safe seat, behind Jessie Price by almost 1000 votes with 86 per cent of the vote counted. * Bendigo (Vic) - Labor MP Lisa Chesters is 1183 votes ahead of Nationals candidate Andrew Lethlean with just over 87 per cent counted after a more than 10 per cent swing to the Nationals in the formerly safe seat. * Labor also leads in Menzies (Vic) and Calwell (Vic) while the Liberals are ahead in Flinders (Vic), Longman (Qld) and Monash (Vic). * The Greens are ahead of the Liberals by 11,800 votes in Ryan (Qld).
