Key liberal heavyweights share frank admissions about the Party clinging to power in a sign of concern for Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet
- Liberals make harsh election predictions
- The coalition fights for a fourth term
Leading members of the Liberal Party have issued stern warnings for the coalition as the first votes come in in the New South Wales state election.
NSW could be hours away from getting a new PM when the statewide count begins.
But NSW Treasurer Matt Kean made a gloomy prediction for the Coalition, which is trying to win a fourth term in government.
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean has made a gloomy prediction for his party in Saturday’s state election.
Appearing on ABC after polling booths across the state closed, he said “the deck is stacked against us.”
“It would be a historic victory because it hasn’t been done before, four terms, so fighting the tide of history is like fighting gravity,” he said.
‘The challenge for us was to present ourselves as a new government, not as the reiteration of a 12-year government.
“We really tried to show that we had fresh ideas.”
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet pictured casting his ballot on Saturday
Meanwhile, NSW Transport Minister David Elliott said the early figures were “not good news” for the Liberal Party as the first vote counts start to come in.
“There have been significant swings against us in western and north-western Sydney and even on Castle Hill the Liberal vote is only 40 per cent, with Labor at 35 and Green at 9,” he told the Channel 7 election panel.
“That suggests it might be an early night for some people in western Sydney, but these are early days, only one per cent of the electorate have been counted.”
“But it’s going to be a long night, and don’t forget there’s been a lot of voting going on leading up to this election.”
To win a majority government (47 seats), Labor must keep its 38 seats and win another nine from the Coalition; however, the party believes it could also achieve a minority government with five seats.
The count began at 6:00 pm, after the polling places closed. The NSW Electoral Commission will also be running a virtual counting room from 6:00pm, where results will be posted throughout the night.
What time will we get a result tonight?
Whether or not there is a clear result on Saturday night, the vote count will stop at 10:30 p.m. and will not resume until Monday.
In the case of a minority government, where no major party wins more than 47 seats, both Labor and the Coalition will need to win the support of the minority parties and the independents to create the next parliament.
Campaigning on the eve of the election, the Labor leader said he believed it “would go down to the last minute”.
“I think it’s going to be tight,” he said.
“Most NSW elections, except for a few here and there, are close contests, and I think we’ve always known that.”
