The blame game begins: Liberal party heavyweights turn on their own government as Labor looks to storm to victory in the NSW election
- Liberals make grim election predictions
- The coalition is fighting for a fourth term
Senior Liberal party members have issued stark warnings to the coalition as the first count of votes in the NSW state election suggests a Labor victory.
NSW could be hours away from getting a new prime minister as counting continues across the state.
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean and Transport Secretary David Elliot made gloomy forecasts for the coalition, which is trying to win a fourth term in government.
Former minister David Elliott has claimed there is no way for the coalition to win the election.
“I don’t see a path to victory for us, again with the setbacks we’re seeing in western Sydney,” he said.
“Stuart Ayres is tragically unlikely to be returned, which is a shame as I saw him as a future opposition leader.”
He said the Pittwater seat would also be “difficult” for the party to win.
It came after he called the situation in the Parramatta seat ‘inexcusable’ for the Liberal party and cast doubt on whether they would keep his seat in Castle Hill.
As voting booths closed statewide, Mr. Kean said “the deck is stacked against us.”
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean made a gloomy forecast for his party in Saturday’s state election
“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 told the ABC.
“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.”
Elliott previously said the preliminary figures were “not good news” for the Liberal Party.
NSW Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet imagined casting his ballot on Saturday
“There have been significant swings against us in western and north west Sydney and even in Castle Hill the Liberal vote is only 40 per cent with Labor at 35 and the Greens at 9,” he told Channel 7’s election panel.
“But it’s going to be a long night, and don’t forget there have been so many primaries this election.”
To win a majority government (47 seats), Labor must keep all their 38 seats and take a further nine from the coalition; however, the party also thinks it can achieve a minority government with five seats.
Counting began at 6 p.m., after the voting booths had closed. The NSW Electoral Commission will also run a virtual Tally Room from 6pm, where results will be published throughout the night.
NSW Transport Minister David Elliott said early figures were ‘not good news’ for the Liberal Party
What time will we get results tonight?
Whether or not there is a clear result on Saturday night, the counting of votes will stop at 10:30 p.m. and will not resume until Monday.
In the case of a minority government – in which neither major party wins more than 47 seats – both Labor and the coalition will need to gain the support of the small parties and independents to create the next parliament.
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.”