Federal MP Sussan Ley has been elected to serve another three years in Parliament after recording victory in the federal election on Saturday.
Ms Ley, 63, triumphed for a ninth time in Farrer, but her primary vote fell below 50 per cent for only the second time, with the first occurring in 2001 when she won the seat in a three-cornered contest with the Nationals involved.
Ms Ley acknowledged it was a hard contest with a nine per cent swing against her taking her primary vote to 43 per cent and independent challenger Michelle Milthorpe snaring 20.79 per cent to finish ahead of Labor on 15 per cent.
“It was a tough fight in Farrer, I’m very humbled that I have retained the seat of Farrer and I wanted to very much express my thanks, which I have, to the many volunteers across my electorate, not just in Albury but all the way to the South Australian border who turned out for me and of course for the people who voted for me,” Ms Ley said.
“It was an election where across the country the vote for the Liberal Party declined and I’ve lost good colleagues as a result from the federal Parliament and my seat was not immune from that decline in support.”
Among those in the Liberal Party who lost their seats was Opposition leader Peter Dutton, with Ms Ley his deputy.
“Peter led us well over the last three years and it’s an incredibly difficult night tonight for Peter and his family and I want to acknowledge that,” Ms Ley said.
She declined to answer a question about whether she would seek the leadership.
Ms Ley said over the last five years she had delivered $1 billion to the seat of Farrer and much of that was not in the last three years because when “Labor is in power, Farrer gets a great deal less”.
