Key posts
- Analysis: Dutton will hold on to leadership because there are no alternatives
- Liberal Party ‘trashed its own brand’ in Victoria: Littleproud
- The latest from the Aston byelection this morning
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Analysis: Dutton will hold on to leadership because there are no alternatives
Peter Dutton’s leadership is not over, but he is in a world of pain.
All the Liberals had to do on Saturday was hold the outer-eastern Melbourne seat of Aston by the slimmest of margins, but it will now fall to Labor in a once-in-a-century result.
Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton speaks in Rowville following Aston Liberal candidate Roshena Campbell’s loss.Credit:Penny Stephens
No government has won a seat off the opposition in a byelection since 1920 – until now.
Out of 23 seats in metropolitan Melbourne, the Liberals will now hold just three.
Central to Dutton’s pitch to the party is that he could win back voters in the mortgage-belt suburbs of Australia’s capital cities.
While he may be toxic in the wealthier, more teal parts of suburbia, Dutton was supposed to appeal in places like Wantirna, Rowville and Bayswater.
But he doesn’t.
If they aren’t his voters, then who is?
Read the full analysis piece here.
See the Aston byelection’s most important moments in photos
We’ve compiled a gallery of some of the key moments from the Aston byelection on Saturday, where Labor’s Mary Doyle bested Liberals’ Roshena Campbell to become the first woman to represent the electorate in Melbourne’s outer east.
Take a look below.
Liberal Party ‘trashed its own brand’ in Victoria: Littleproud
We’ve just heard from federal Nationals leader David Littleproud on Weekend Today, where he said that he still believes Peter Dutton is the best leader for the Liberal Party.
But he said the party’s disappointing outcome at the Aston byelection was a result of anger in the electorate, as well as the Victorian branch doing “everything they could locally to trash their own brand” during the state election and the recent Moira Deeming expulsion vote saga.
Nationals leader David Littleproud .Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“The people of Aston have gone to the polls three times in 10 months. A Liberal member resigned, I think they had anger about that,” he said.
“The candidate not being a local shows we’ve got to respect the local electorate and understand that they want someone local. The lessons are there for the Liberal Party to take.
“I think Peter is by far the best leader the Liberal Party has.”
Former education minister Alan Tudge resigned from the seat of Aston and the Liberal Party in February.
Littleproud said he believed there had been a “personal character assassination” of Dutton during the byelection and urged politicians to “stay away from playing the man – play the ball”.
“We should rise above that and that’s why people get sick of politicians,” he said.
The latest from the Aston byelection this morning
Good morning and welcome to our continued live coverage of the Aston byelection. Thanks so much for joining us.
It’s Sunday, April 2.
Here’s what you need to know before we get started.
Labor’s Mary Doyle has defeated the Liberals’ Roshena Campbell to snatch the federal seat of Aston in Melbourne’s outer east. It marks the first time in a century that a sitting government has won a seat from the opposition in a byelection. The last time was in 1920.
- Speaking to supporters in Boronia last night, Doyle said she was “quite taken aback” by the outcome. “I was obviously hoping to win, but I was quite overwhelmed by the result,” she said.
- At a sombre Liberal Party event at the Knox Italian Community Club in Rowville, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the byelection was another “tough night” for the party in Victoria.
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to speak to the media in Aston later this morning.
In the latest update from the Australian Electoral Commission, Doyle is ahead of Campbell, leading 53.7-46.3 per cent on a two-party preferred margin – a 6.5 per cent swing against the Liberals.
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