Labor has won the Gilmore seat, giving new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a solid majority in the House of Commons.
Gilmore, on NSW’s south coast, is one of the state’s most competitive districts, with votes swinging back and forth between the two candidates, Fiona Phillips and Andrew Constance, in the last week.
Labor, on the other hand, declared on Tuesday afternoon that its MP, Ms Phillips, would keep the seat after her advantage grew to 222 votes.
‘NSW Labor has decided to name the Gilmore seat after me,’ Ms Phillips, the incumbent MP, told the ABC.
‘We have seen again a strong trend towards me with the absentee vote, which is very unlikely, and I am just thrilled with the result.
‘The last week has been very harrowing and very hard and there has been a lot of interest in Gilmore, people have been stopping me in the street and willing me to get across the line.’
More than 88 per cent of the votes in Gilmore have been counted, giving Labor the confidence to call the seat.
The seat is yet to be called by the Australian Electoral Commission but Ms Phillips appears to be winning the majority of absentee voters, a Labor source said.
Ms Phillips has been neck and neck with former NSW Liberal MP Andrew Constance.
Mr Constance, who served as transport minister during his time on former premier Gladys Berejiklian’s front bench, left state politics to battle for a federal seat.
Ms Phillips congratulated Mr Constance for a well-fought campaign.
‘I want to congratulate my opponent Andrew Constance and all the candidates in the election. It has been a very tough time on anyone,’ she said.
