The NSW Labor government’s hopes of ruling in majority have ended, with vote counting in three close seats handed two wins to the Liberal Party on Saturday, leaving Labor’s hopes of reaching a 47-seat majority in the dust.
Projections show the Liberal Party will retain the Central Coast electorate of Terrigal and the southwestern Sydney seat of Holsworthy, while the north west Sydney seat of Ryde remains in doubt, ABC’s Election Analyst Antony Green said on Saturday.
If Labor is able to win Ryde, the government will reach 46 seats, one short of a majority, while the Liberal-National coalition is likely to land between 35 and 36 seats.
Meanwhile, Mark Latham, state leader of the conservative NSW One Nation party, will re-enter the parliament with a renewed eight-year term. He attributed the failure of the Liberal party to the “left-wing Liberals” whose agenda he said is based on the “renewables cult” and “the rent seeker money they rely on.”
Last week, Latham said NSW One Nation is averaging 9.83 percent primary vote in the lower house seats they contested, running ahead of their 2019 results.
“Our average primary vote of 9.83 per is a nice boost on the 4.84 percent our party achieved in NSW during last year’s Federal election in lower house seats,” he said. “One Nation is heading in the right direction.”
“Across the 10 Western Sydney seats we contested (so far) we are averaging 9.6% primary vote.
“The Liberal Party was successful in just two of those seats. Of the 17 seats in which we ran, the Liberals were successful in just 4, with a net loss of 5 seats. Can you believe the Leftwing Liberals are blaming John Howard for their defeat, not Matt Kean?!!”
Meanwhile, the Minns government is mulling referring independent MP Gareth Ward to the parliamentary privileges committee. Ward, a former Liberal minister, was re-elected as the independent MP for Kiama while fighting five sexual assault charges.
He pleaded not guilty to five criminal offences last week, and is due to stand trial in the NSW District Court after being formally arraigned.
He has consistently maintained his innocence and said in a statement released last week he looks forward to getting back to work.
On Saturday, Environment Minister Penny Sharpe would not rule out a motion to suspend Ward, saying the government was considering its options.
“We could look at referring him to the privileges committee, but we’re waiting until the final declaration of the poll.”
The Epoch Times contributed to this article.
