Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto has stated that voters in Melbourne’s east helped ‘turn the tide’ after a crucial by-election victory.
Nicole Werner, a charity manager and former youth pastor, scored an impressive early victory as the count went down in Warrandyte.
The Australian declared Ms Werner the winner of the closely watched vote shortly after 8pm with about 67 percent of the primary vote.
Crucial to the state leadership, Ms. Werner garnered about 73 percent of the two-party preferred vote, with 39 percent of the vote counted.
Nicole Werner (pictured), charity manager and former youth pastor, scored an impressive early win as counts tumbled in Warrandyte
The party wanted to maintain or increase its 4.2 percent margin over Labor in the 2022 state election.
The Greens candidate Tomas Lightbody came a distant second behind Ms Werner on a two-party system, with 26 percent.
The Liberal Party was tipped to comfortably win Warrandyte’s seat, while Victorian Labor refused to field a candidate.
Opposition leader John Pesutto said in his speech at the Ringwood Bowls Club that the voters were the ‘vote for all Victorians’.
“The people of Warrandyte were the voice of all Victorians tonight in saying they are tired of the rise in the cost of living,” he said.
“They are tired of their jobs being taxed. They are tired of their rent being taxed. They are tired of their schools being taxed.
Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto (pictured with Ms Werner) has stated that voters in Melbourne’s east helped ‘turn the tide’ after a crucial by-election victory
‘They want to be heard. They want to be respected. They want to be taken care of.
“The people of Warrandyte have done their fellow Victorians a great service tonight as they have helped turn the tide in this state.”
Pesutto lashed out at Prime Minister Dan Andrews, saying his supporters were tired of “corruption,” “the stacking of branches” and “breach of faith.”
Buoyed by the chants of ‘Nicole’, Ms Werner promised her supporters she would spend every day in parliament and give everything she could to ‘make a difference’.
“Thank you to every candidate who stood out and for taking your place in democracy, and to the people of the Warrandyte electorate,” she said.
“Thank you for entrusting me with this honor. I am humbled that you choose me and place your trust in me, and I acknowledge the responsibility.
“To you I say this: I will do my best to do my very best every day to fight for you and simply serve our beautiful community.”
Buoyed by the chants of ‘Nicole’, Ms Werner promised her supporters she would spend every day in parliament and give her all to ‘make a difference’
Ms Werner told supporters she was “standing on the shoulders” of her popular predecessor, Ron Smith, a former would-be party leader.
Ms. Werner, daughter of Chinese-Malaysian immigrants, spoke of her family’s emigration in a touching tribute to her teary-eyed mother.
“My mother was born to an illiterate mother who was never sent to school because of poverty,” she said.
“She was able to move to Australia at the age of 22 to join my father in 1988, who moved the year before his $800 savings. They worked hard and did everything they could to get ahead.
“While I was pregnant with me – a new migrant, full of hope and selfless ambition – my mother said to me in her belly: I want you to be a leader, and I want you to change the world. My success is their success.’
Ms Werner praised her father and mother, who had both emigrated from China and Malaysia, saying ‘they worked hard and did everything they could to get ahead’
Ms Werner and Mr Pesutto’s posts marked a change in tone from earlier comments on Saturday at the Ringwood North Primary School stand.
The embattled Victorian opposition leader said his party “has been fighting until 6pm tonight” and has taken nothing “for granted”.
“Nicole has worked so hard,” he said on the stand.
“She’s knocked on the door, tapped her phone, she’s held listening posts, she’s connected to the community she grew up in.
“We’ll fight until 6 p.m. tonight.”
Ms. Werner, a charity manager, ran against 11 other minor party or independent candidates.
The by-election took place in July when Liberal MP Ryan Smith stepped down to take up a corporate job.
Ms. Werner obtained about 73 percent of the two-party preference vote, with 39 percent of the votes counted
Mr Smith retained the seat by a margin of 4.3 per cent in 2022 and any substantial swings against Ms Werner could backfire on Mr Pesutto and cast doubt on his leadership.
Pesutto has been mired in controversy following his decision to kick female MP Moira Deeming out of the party hall after she attended an anti-transgender rally.
Ms Werner, 32, daughter of Chinese-Malaysian migrants, said on social media she would work to ‘restore the integrity’ of Victoria’s finances, in an apparent swipe at the state’s withdrawal from organizing the Commonwealth Games.
With no Labor opponent, Greens candidate Tomas Lightbody is tipped as her biggest rival.
On election morning, Ms. Werner said she had served the community her entire working life.
“If elected, I will fight for the issues that matter to you,” she said.
Ms Werner unsuccessfully campaigned for the Box Hill seat in the November 2022 state election, a key seat for the Liberals in their push for government.
Mrs Werner lost the seat to Labour’s Paul Hamer.
She took an 8.9 percent blow to her in the primary and finished with 42.8 percent of the vote after preferences.
The Victorian Liberal Party has held the suburban seat in Melbourne’s north east since 1988.