Pink win in NSW's blue landslide

A massive swing to the Coalition in New South Wales’ election yesterday saw Barry O’Farrell grip power and his party gain dozens of new MPs – including the first-ever openly gay Liberal MP.

Sydney’s key LGBTI seats – Sydney, Balmain, Heffron and Marrickville – all had nail-baiting finishes, as Labor and Independent sitting MPs were very nearly swept away by the Liberal tide.

Votes are still being recounted, but Independent MP Clover Moore is likely to keep the Sydney seat she’s held for 23 years, despite a strong campaign by out gay Liberal Adrian Bartels. Despite a wave of publicity, Christian Democrat Peter Madden failed to secure many votes, picking up a pitiful 1%.

Labor’s Carmel Tebbutt has managed to keep her inner-west seat of Marrickville by a slim margin, where the Greens’ Fiona Byrne was her chief opposition.
In Balmain a tight result in still being recounted, but ABC News is picking Labor’s Verity Firth will remain as MP. Both the Liberal’s James Falk and the Greens’ Jamie Parker are only a few hundred votes away though.

And soon-to-be ex-Premier Kristina Keneally has predictably won her eastern suburb seat of Heffron, despite another huge swing to the Liberals in that electorate.

In the Legislative Council, the Libs take power with four more seats, while Labor loses five but retains out lesbian Penny Sharpe. The right-wing Family First group loses its seat, but Fred Nile will get an ally – the Christian Democrats have gained a second council member.

GAY LIBERAL TAKES COOGEE

Riding yesterday’s blue tide, Bruce Notley-Smith (pictured) has confidently won the eastern Sydney suburb of Coogee, becoming the Liberal Party’s first-ever openly gay MP.

His beachside electorate includes the suburbs of Queens Park, Waverley, Tamarama, Bronte, Clovelly, Coogee, Randwick and parts of Bondi, Bondi Junction and Kensington – Randwick Racecourse and the University of New South Wales are also covered.

Notley-Smith, who for two years served as the Mayor of Randwick, runs a local contract cleaning business, and campaigned strongly for improving public transport in his electorate. The Wentworth Courier reported that his partner of over 20 years, Paul Weston, wept with joy as the newly-elected Liberal thanked his loyal supporters.


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