Sad photo that perfectly illuminates Dominic Perrottet’s election nightmare: ‘Not a member of parliament in sight’
- Almost empty convention room at NSW Liberal Party headquarters
- It comes after news organizations declared NSW Labor elections
There were sad scenes at the NSW Liberal Party headquarters with the ballroom of a posh Sydney hotel nearly empty as Labor stormed to victory in the NSW election.
Not a single member of parliament was seen in the Hilton’s convention room around 8pm on Saturday, after high-profile party figures were expected to begin rolling up at 7:30pm.
A photo from the convention center shows an almost empty room with news broadcasts on two projectors revealing a landslide victory for the NSW Labor Party.
The sound on the screens was reportedly turned off shortly after news organizations began calling the election.
There were sad scenes at NSW Liberal Party headquarters with the ballroom of Sydney’s posh Hilton hotel nearly empty as Labor stormed to victory in the NSW election
The photos come after the ABC predicted that NSW Labor would form a majority government after 12 years in the political wilderness.
“There’s going to be a change of government,” declared ABC election commentator Anthony Green.
“We have Labor above 40 seats and the coalition is struggling to get above 27 at this stage.”
It means Chriss Minns, the 42-year-old father of three, will become the state’s 47th prime minister.
Victory in what is hailed as historic for his party after 12 years in the political wilderness.
Mr Minns comfortably retained his Kograh seat this election thanks to a 16-point swing, having held the seat by just 0.5 per cent in 2019.
While campaigning on the eve of the election, the Labor leader said he thought it would ‘get to the bone’.
“I do believe it’s going to be tight,” he said.
“Most NSW elections, except for a few here and there, are tight contests, and I think we’ve always known that.”
The loss ends the NSW Liberal Party’s 12-year reign in the state and makes 42-year-old father-of-three Chris Minns the state’s 47th Prime Minister
Liberal Party headquarters largely empty with ‘not an MP in sight’ after a near landslide victory for the NSW Labor Party
Outgoing Parramatta MP Jeoff Lee told the ABC that the Liberals may have left it too late to nominate a candidate for the electorate.
“You can’t just hand over all the support I have, and I’m grateful for the support the community has given me over the last 10 years,” he told Sky News.
NSW treasurer Matt Kean made a gloomy forecast for the coalition as it seeks to win a fourth term in government.
Appearing on the ABC after voting booths closed statewide, he said that “the deck is stacked against us.”
“It would be a historic win 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 the repetition of a 12-year-old government.
“We really tried to show that we had fresh ideas.”