Labor candidate Matt Smith, his family and supporters celebrate the flow of votes after polls closed in the race for Leichhardt on Saturday night. Photo: Supplied.
While the Australian Electoral Commission is yet to formally declare the result, the Liberal National Party’s (LNP) nearly-three decade stranglehold on Leichhardt is over.
Amid the chaos of Labor’s demolition of the Peter Dutton-led Coalition at a national level on 3 May, Cape York voters have sent an emphatic message to the LNP following the retirement of long-serving Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch.
When the Cape York Weekly went to press, Labor’s Matt Smith held a commanding 56.83 per cent of the two-party preferred vote, and was more than 11,000 votes clear of his LNP rival, Jeremy Neal.
It was a bloodbath across Cape York and the Torres Strait for the LNP, with Mr Neal recording a 14.01 per cent swing against the party in Weipa, with similar results in Cooktown (-12.62 per cent), Thursday Island (-16.12 per cent) and Bamaga (-16.63 per cent).
In Coen, there has been a 23.63 per cent swing against the conservative party, which went into Saturday’s federal election as a short-priced favourite to keep Leichhardt as a blue seat following Mr Entsch’s departure from politics.
Other conservative candidates recorded primary vote increases, with Rob Hicks securing nearly 8 per cent for One Nation, and Daniel Collins 5.84 per cent for Katter’s Australian Party.
The Greens’ Phillip Musumeci had secured 9 per cent of first preference votes on Monday morning.
Mr Smith has declared victory and said he would hit the ground running by driving to Weipa this week for the 2025 Western Cape Futures Symposium.
“I will be the new Member for Leichhardt,” he said.
“I’m obviously excited and the work starts tomorrow, and I’m driving up your way; I made a commitment to Jaime (Gane) last time I was up there to do so, and there are no flights, so we’re driving.”
Mr Neal told Cape York Weekly he was disappointed with the swing against the LNP on Cape York and the Torres Strait, but added he respected the decision of electors.
“The voting results from Cape York reflect national trends,” he said.
“Whilst I’m disappointed in the results, I respect the choice of Leichhardt and wish the incoming government well.”
In a Facebook post on 4 May, he conceded defeat and thanked his supporters for their campaign efforts.
“With the election now over and the votes largely tallied, I congratulate Matt Smith on his win in Leichhardt,” the post reads.
“I would like to give a huge thank you to my volunteers and supporters, who put up a great fight.
“We left no stone unturned in this election.”
