FREE
September 12, 2013
Your independent community newspaper - Ph: 4325 7369
Issue 29
Dobell still too close to call
A
s of Wednesday, September 11, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has declared the Federal seat of Dobell as a “close seat”.
According to the AEC, a “close seat” is declared when the Two Candidate Preferred result is between 49.50% and 50.50%. At the time the Wyong Regional Chronicle went to press, the latest AEC figures showed the Liberal candidate for Dobell Ms Karen McNamara had a total of 50.42% of the Two Candidate Preferred votes. Dobell’s Labor candidate Ms Emma McBride had 49.58% of the Two Candidate Preferred votes. With 18.2% of the vote yet to be counted, only 626 votes separate the candidates. Ms McNamara, who so
far has received 41.02% of first preference votes, ran an election campaign which spanned over a year. Ms McBride, who currently has 35.67% of first preference votes, ran a much shorter campaign and was only endorsed as the Labor party’s candidate for Dobell four weeks prior to the election. Neither candidate responded when contacted by the Wyong Regional Chronicle for comment. The Federal seat of Dobell was previously held by Mr Craig Thomson, who became Member for Dobell in 2007.
We
Mr Thomson currently has 3.99% of first preference votes. Mr Thomson said he was looking forward to spending more time with his family. “On election night, I became a private citizen,” Mr Thomson said. Greens candidate for Dobell Ms Sue Wynn has so far received 4.72% of first preference votes. Ms Wynn said she was proud to have represented the Greens in Dobell and to have presented her party’s evidence-based policies to the electorate. “We used every means available to us with our extremely limited campaign funds to get our message out to voters
so they could make an informed decision,” Ms Wynn said. Ms Wynn thanked her stalwart members and supporters for their assistance in her campaign. “They all volunteered so that we could work towards achieving a caring society that looks after and protects the environment for us all,” she said. “The Greens will continue to be active on the Central Coast as a positive voice for a cleaner economy and a more caring society.” Palmer United candidate Ms Kate McGill, who currently has 3.40% of first preference votes, said her party faced strong competition from high profile parties and independents in
the electorate. “I think the result in Dobell proved what many of us have known for a long time – that is, the people of Dobell fear Coalition policies which is why the ALP still has support,” Ms McGill said. “I think the job for me over the next three years will be to lift the profile of the party and provide the people of Dobell with the information they need to distinguish Palmer United Party as not the new kid on the block, but the best alternative for Dobell next time around. “Once the people of Dobell take time to look at our policies and digest the fact that they are not self-centred and indeed are policies that seek to benefit all Australians rather than just lobby
or fringes groups, then we will get the people behind us. “I look forward to keeping a close eye on whoever does win, as I suspect very little will change for the often forgotten and even more marginal seat of Dobell.” Prior to September 7, the status of the Dobell seat was undefined. Of the votes counted so far, 7.52% of votes were informal votes. Website, 11 Sep 2013 Australian Electoral Commission Email, 10 Sep 2013 David Gardiner, Office of Craig Thomson Email, 10 Sep 2013 Sue Wynn, Greens candidate for Dobell Email, 10 Sep 2013 Kate McGill, Palmer United candidate for Dobell
the Wyong Shire