Independent Jacqui Scruby, the likely winner of the New South Wales by-election in Pittwater, says the race for the top seat has shown how strong candidates can encourage a “race to the top” in politics.
“It was a very competitive election,” Scruby said Sunday.
“People were really engaged in their democracy and I think that's a great thing.
“There is a recognition here of the benefits of a competitive seat and how that can spark a race to the top with the main parties as well.”
Taking preferences into account, Local Weather 200-backed independent Scruby got 55.4%, while the Liberals' Georgia Ryburn got 44.6%.
Scruby said he would wait for the outcome of the mail-in and pre-election vote counts, but said the results so far showed that voters “appreciate a different way of doing politics.”
“I think it's a very exciting testament that people understand community representation and that independents represent them in the way that they want to be represented and that they are effective and can deliver,” he said.
He said existing independents in the NSW parliament, such as Sydney member Alex Greenwich, had demonstrated the value of working “policy by policy” and assessing proposals on their merits, rather than in a “bipartisan meeting”. . [system] of the government and the opposition and oppose it for the good of the opposition.”
“I think people are excited about it. “It is a more representative and entrepreneurial approach to policy development,” he said.
The Pittwater by-election, sparked by criminal charges brought against the sitting MP Rory Amon, which he has denied, was held alongside those in Epping and Hornsby.
The latter two were triggered by the resignations of former prime minister Dominic Perrottet and former treasurer Matt Kean.
The Liberal candidates, Monica Tudehope and James Wallace, were on track to easily triumph in those elections, in which Labor did not field candidates.
Scruby said it had been an honor to run alongside Ryburn and it was unfortunate that “it took a scandal for the Liberal Party to preselect a woman”.
“It was absolutely fantastic to see two professional women with families in this electorate,” she said.
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Ryburn, in his speech on Saturday night, said that although the count was underway, the path to victory was difficult.
“What the people of Pittwater told me is that they were very grateful in this campaign to have two strong, competent, intelligent women fighting for our community,” she said.
“While Jacqui and I have our differences, I think she loves Pittwater and I respect that.
“However, the biggest difference between Jacqui Scruby and me is that I am part of something bigger, much bigger than me, and each and every one of us plays a role.”
Ryburn told the crowd that “although teal candidates like to push the narrative that they are David and we are Goliath, this is not the case.”
He said the Liberal Party had “taken the right path and run a solid campaign while the Teals, the fairest of all, slandered us in the media”.
Local Weather 200 chief executive Byron Fay said the result in Pittwater was an indication that community independents could deliver.
“It is an indication that the community is still looking for an alternative to the duopoly, that is, the main parties,” he said.
He said the Pittwater recount, as well as federal seats such as Mackellar and Warringah, which are represented by independents, showed there was “a growing independent voting identity on Sydney's northern beaches”.
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