Latest news with #DaiLe
Epoch Times
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Independent MP Dai Le Set to Hold Fowler Despite Labor's Strong Challenge
With over 80 percent of the vote now counted, independent MP Dai Le is set to hold the key Sydney southwest seat of Fowler against a strong challenge from Labor's Tu Le. Both Les have achieved swings in their favour at the expense of the Liberal Party and most minor parties, with Dai Le gaining a 1.3 primary swing and Tu Le 6.2 percent. But that won't be enough to secure the seat for the Australian Labor Party (ALP), with Dai Le holding a lead of 4,836 votes and predicted to hold the seat—ahead on 52.8 percent against Tu Le's 47.2 percent. Labor were keen to re-take what had been a solidly red seat since Fowler was first created in 1984. It was even named after an ALP luminary, Lilian Fowler, Australia's first female mayor and later state MP for the seat of Newtown in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1944 to 1950. Fowler is also one of Sydney's most ethnically diverse electorates, and the centre of the city's Vietnamese community. Former ALP MP Chris Hayes had suggested a Vietnamese-Australian member of his staff, Tu Le, as the Labor candidate when he retired in 2022. Related Stories 4/20/2025 4/29/2024 Fowler is also comprised of mostly lower socio-economic voters (median weekly household income is $1,403). Perhaps because they had held Fowler through 13 elections, Labor instead parachuted then-senator and former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally as its candidate. American-born Keneally had no connection to the electorate or understanding of its voters, having represented the eastern Sydney seat of Heffron in state parliament. When nominated for Fowler, she lived in northern Sydney, on Scotland Island. In contrast, Tu Le is the daughter of Vietnamese refugees who have long lived in the local community, works at a community legal centre, and lives locally at Mount Pritchard. Dai Le was a former Liberal candidate and local councillor who won Fowler boosted by preferences from the Liberals, United Australia, and One Nation. She won and became the first Vietnamese Australian elected to the House of Representatives. She achieved a 1.1 margin after a first preference swing of 29.5 percent toward her, versus one of 18.5 percent away from Keneally. Although Labor chose more carefully this time, and took Hayes' recommendation, it seems that wasn't enough to sway voters. Dai Le is a former journalist who has worked for community newspapers in western Sydney and for ABC. She was named one of the 100 most influential Australian women in 2014. She was suspended from the Liberal Party for 10 years in 2016, in retribution for her bid to become mayor against an endorsed Liberal, despite having twice been the party's candidate in Cabramatta.
Herald Sun
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Herald Sun
Federal Election 2025: Electorates with highest pre-polling rates
Don't miss out on the headlines from Federal Election. Followed categories will be added to My News. About a third of enrolled Australians have already cast their vote ahead of the federal election, with some divisions set to have more voters pre-poll than will turn up on election day. Australian Electoral Commission figures reveal about 5.7 million votes (31 per cent) had been received by end of play yesterday – up from about 4.6 million (27 per cent) two-days out from the 2022 election. In the Queensland seat of Hinkler, 46 per cent of enrolled Australians had gotten a jump on their democratic duty before booths closed yesterday, suggesting it will tip over the halfway point before the end of today. Pre-polling rates were above 40 per cent in Fowler (NSW), Fisher (QLD), Gilmore (NSW), Gippsland (VIC), Nicholls (VIC), Dawson (QLD), Kennedy (QLD), Fairfax (QLD) and Eden-Monaro (NSW). Rates have increased across the country, with the figures down in only 11 electorates, including Linigari (NT), Watson (NSW), Blaxland (NSW), Durack (WA), Calwell (VIC) and Bass (TAS). HIGHEST PRE-POLLING DIVISIONS HINKLER Bundaberg and Hervey Bay, QLD 46% already pre-polled, up from 41% This was won by the LNP last election but now sits vacant as the sitting MP Keith Pitt resigned in January. FOWLER Sydney southwest suburbs, NSW 45% already pre-polled, up from 39% This seat is currently held by independent Dai Le, having previously been consistently won by the ALP. FISHER Sunshine Coast, QLD 45% already pre-polled, up from 35% Held by Liberal MP Andrew Wallace since 2016, this is a safe LNP seat. GILMORE South Coast, NSW 43% already pre-polled, up from 38% A marginal Labor seat being contested this election by Labor's Fiona Phillips, Liberal's Andrew Constance and the Greens' Debbie Killian as well as candidates from Pauline Hanson's One Nation, Family First, Trumpet of Patriots, Legalise Cannabis Party, and independent Kate Dezarnaulds. GIPPSLAND Eastern VIC 43% already pre-polled, up from 37% This electorate has one of Victoria's largest geographical footprints. It is a very safe Nationals seat, held by current MP Darren Chester since 2008. He is running again this election. Originally published as Federal Election 2025: Check out the electorates with the highest pre-polling rates
The Guardian
01-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Preferences are more important than ever this election. See where Australian voters sent theirs last time
Preferences have become more important than ever in Australian elections, as the share of people supporting the major parties has dropped from more than 90% of primary votes in the 1950s to just 68.8% in the most recent federal poll. The last Australian election saw 16 seats won by candidates who were not leading after the first count – the most ever, tied with 2016. And more than half of those winners were independent candidates – also the most ever. Australia's electoral system requires voters to number candidates in their order of preference: their first choice, second choice and so on. During counting, if no candidate has yet achieved a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their votes are redistributed to voters' next preference. This is repeated until there is a clear winner. Because of this, voter preferences are a bigger deal in some seats. Who do One Nation or Trumpet of Patriots (the successor to the United Australia party) voters prefer when their candidate does not make it? In the last election, there were only 27 out of 151 seats where Labor and the Coalition were not the final two candidates. So at the macro level, most preferences are likely to end up with one of these two parties. The chart above shows that last time, 86% of Greens voter preferences ended up with a Labor candidate. And 62% of UAP voter preferences ended up with the Coalition. But diving into preferences at the seat level, we see that the way preferences actually flow during the counts can defy simple left-right characterisations – it often has a lot to do with individual candidates, or how deep they continue into the ballot count. (Preferences only come into effect when a candidate is eliminated.) Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter There were eight seats where the Coalition was not in the final two candidates, and just over half of Coalition voter preferences went to the Labor party. But Labor candidates were also finalists in all those seats. In the cases of Fowler and Melbourne, Coalition voter preferences differed greatly depending on the combination of the final two candidates. Six of the seats where the Coalition was not in the final count pitched Greens against Labor. The other two saw Labor face off against an independent candidate – Dai Le in Fowler and Andrew Wilkie in Clark. Almost half of Labor preferences ended up going to an independent candidate. But again, it depended on who the final candidates were. There were 19 seats where Labor was not in the final count. These seats included sitting MPs Rebekha Sharkie in Mayo and Bob Katter in Kennedy, both against the Coalition, as well as a few Greens v Coalition contests. In 14 of those seats, the final count came down to the Coalition against an independent, including the seats where 'teal' independents were elected. Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion It is important to note that parties do not decide where preferences go – voters do. Parties can, however, hand out how-to-vote cards with their preferred vote order, which voters can follow if they choose. A lot of minor parties do not run in every seat, making these kinds of comparisons more complex. But we can see another discrepancy by comparing 2022 preference flows for One Nation, the United Australia party, and the Greens. The following charts aren't seat-specific – they aggregate across all the seats where the parties ran but did not end up in the final count. There were nine seats in total where the Greens made it into the final count, but One Nation and UAP candidates were often eliminated earlier. In seats such as Deakin and Corangamite, more than 60% of One Nation preferences went to UAP, but the preferences ultimately went to another party in the final count. You can explore every seat in the interactive below. This final graphic is slightly different again: rather than showing where preferences ended up in the final count, it shows where votes went in the count after a candidate was eliminated. If you click through the candidates in each seat, you can see that options start to dwindle in later counts. A voter whose preference is candidate B over candidate C, won't have that option if candidate B has already been eliminated. Thanks to Ben Raue for looking at a draft of this story. Any errors remain the author's.
Sky News AU
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Liberals have ‘picked up' in the election in Western Sydney
Independent MP Dai Le has claimed people in the seat of Fowler are 'frustrated' at the Labor Party, claiming the Liberals have 'really picked up' compared to previous years. 'They're doing very well here in Western Sydney,' Ms Le told Sky News Australia. 'I'm here for the whole community of Fowler, representing a diverse community.'
Sydney Morning Herald
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Corruption watchdog bites back at claims of candidate investigation in dirty tricks campaign
The national corruption watchdog has warned against claims that a key Labor candidate is under investigation, making a rare intervention in a growing dispute in one of the dirtiest campaigns of the election. The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) issued the warning after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and independent MP Dai Le raised concerns about Labor candidate Tu Le, who is seeking to reclaim the marginal western Sydney seat of Fowler for the government. The move follows a separate dispute involving the Liberal candidate for the seat, Vivek Singha, over social media posts he made that denigrated Indigenous Australians, prompting Labor to call on Dai Le to urge her supporters to put him last on their ballot papers. Labor lost Fowler to the independent MP at the last election, but is hoping to reverse that outcome on Saturday because it only lost by 2800 votes three years ago. Some Liberal volunteers appear to be handing out how-to-vote cards for Dai Le, according to photographs and internal party messages seen by this masthead, but her supporters insisted on Tuesday that she did not favour either of the major parties. Loading The Liberal volunteers include members of the Young Liberals and one member of the party's supporters at the University of NSW, according to messages exchanged on a group chat and photographs of volunteers at early voting centres. Dai Le was a local councillor and a member of the Liberal Party after a career as an ABC journalist, but she was suspended from the party in 2016 – and has formally severed ties – after she ran on an independent ticket for Fairfield Council. Her husband, Markus Lambert, who was also a former member of the party, rejected any suggestion that the independent MP's campaign was being helped by Liberals.
