Labor loses another two seats
Federal Labor has conceded defeat in another two lower-house seats as its casualty list from last weekend’s election nears 20.
Labor acknowledged today that it could not peg back Coalition leads in Eden-Monaro (NSW) and Capricornia (Qld).
The party is also facing defeat in McEwen (Vic) and possibly Parramatta (NSW), where Labor MP Julie Owens is clinging to a lead of 389 votes.
Nearly a week after election day, the Coalition is on track to win 93 seats in the House of Representatives to Labor’s 53.
The Liberals have all but conceded the seat of Indi, held by frontbencher Sophie Mirabella, to independent Cathy McGowan.
The contest in Fairfax (Qld) is up in the air as mining magnate Clive Palmer leads by 1132 against a flood of postal votes going the way of his Liberal-National Party opponent Ted O’Brien.
Junior defence minister Mike Kelly will formally announce his defeat in the bellwether seat of Eden-Monaro on Friday after tweeting a message to supporters.
“To all my valued friends on twitter I’m sorry to have to say I will be conceding this morning. It’s over. Thank you for your support.”
In Capricornia, LNP candidate Michelle Landry was so confident of success she flew to Canberra for a meeting of Coalition MPs.
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That confidence was justified when Labor candidate Peter Freeleagus conceded defeat on Friday.
“We didn’t have enough votes up our sleeve,” he said of Labor’s urban support in the Rockhampton-based electorate.
Postal votes, mainly from the seat’s rural areas, have been running 60-40 in favour of the LNP.
