Amid Labor’s stunning victory, a fresh Independent wave has swept over the ACT. Senator David Pocock has cemented himself as one of the territory’s most influential politicians, easily topping the poll. Meanwhile, the count in the southern seat of Bean looks set to drag on for days as Labor fights to hold a seat previously considered safe.
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00:00An orange army on the cusp of a huge upset.
00:09Look at what we have done. First go.
00:15Jessie Price's supporters wasted no time celebrating her performance. Expectations
00:21exceeded with the final result hanging in the balance, today attracting plenty of public
00:26attention.
00:27Thank you, thank you. Something there'll be more of in the days ahead.
00:33I think I do feel very cautiously optimistic. We'll see what happens. I don't want to be
00:38premature about anything but I do know from being out and about and being there is such
00:42a mood for change.
00:44Voters giving a range of accounts for her breakthrough.
00:47Perhaps there's been a defection from the Liberals but from people who don't want to
00:52vote Labor so they've gone to the independents.
00:55Both Labor and the Liberals have been losing their connection with the people.
01:01For Labor, the enthusiasm at an historic landslide was tempered by the precarious situation facing
01:13BNMP David Smith. Still, there was time for a few pointed remarks.
01:18We've ensured that Peter Dutton gets to work from home on Monday.
01:24The Australian people have rejected the Liberal Party's public service cuts.
01:30Both Andrew Lee and Canberra MP Alicia Payne were comfortably returned, as was Junior Minister
01:37Christy McBain in Eden-Monaro and former Nationals leader Michael McCormack in Riverina.
01:42But the most emphatic result belonged to Senator David Pocock. His vote doubled, a feat he puts
01:49down to a vision not widely shared by other parties' campaigns.
01:54A lot of it was pretty short-term, what can we give people to try and get re-elected rather
02:00than what's our long-term future.
02:02It's left Labor short of a quota for an ACT Senate seat for the first time ever.
02:08Katie Gallagher expected to get over the line on preferences. Meanwhile, Canberra's long-suffering
02:15Liberals were left disappointed once again. There was lots of Liberals who were embarrassed
02:21by the position that Dutton took with regard to the ACT and simply didn't want to be seen
02:27to be supportive of that approach. An approach which has kept the party in the political wilderness.