In New South Wales, the Liberal party has won by-elections in the Sydney seats of Epping and Hornsby, while a "teal" independent has wrestled control in Pittwater.
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00:00Well, the Scrooby camp has been partying into the night here at Avalon Surf Club, and there's
00:07a real sense of optimism. Jackie Scrooby has stopped short of declaring victory, but with
00:13more than 60% of the votes counted, she's clearly ahead, and the celebrations have begun.
00:20She's being cautiously optimistic with her language. After all, she narrowly lost last
00:25year to the Liberals by just 606 votes, but if the count continues the way it has, it's
00:32likely she'll become the first Teal Independent in the New South Wales Parliament.
00:37There's definitely the trailblazing element, there's definitely the element that maybe
00:41the New South Wales Liberal Party and other states, they're not on their game, and whether
00:47that be scandals or administrative errors, people have felt disappointed in Liberal representation.
00:53I think also it's important to recognise that this by-election is different, we have
00:57a minority government, we do have Liberals in opposition, and I suppose people also feel
01:02that as an opportunity to try a different type of representation, so I'm conscious that
01:07there are a lot of elements there.
01:09If Ms Scrooby is elected to state parliament, the Teal movement will have strengthened its
01:13grip on this part of the world. Pittwater covers roughly the same area as the federal
01:19seat of Mackellar, which was won by Sophie Sconce at the last federal election. Ms Scrooby
01:25worked as Ms Sconce's campaign manager before running for parliament last year. People here
01:33tonight have told me that there's been a community awakening in this part of the world, of people
01:38wanting to do politics differently, outside the major parties.
01:44I am just so thankful that this community has got involved in their democracy, it's
01:49an exciting time for us here in Pittwater, and people of Pittwater have said they want
01:54to be heard, they want to be part of their democracy, they've got behind Jackie, Jackie
01:58is an incredible representative.
02:00Ms Scrooby's opponent, Georgia Wyburn, is yet to formally concede, but the Liberals
02:05admit the path to victory is difficult. They've also faced by-elections today in Epping and
02:12Hornsby, the former seats of former Premier Dominic Perrottet and former Treasurer Matt
02:17Keane. In Epping, Mr Perrottet's former Deputy Chief of Staff, Monica Tudhope, who's also
02:23the daughter of Shadow Treasurer Damien Tudhope, is on track to retain the seat for the Liberals,
02:28as is former Liberal State President James Wallace in Hornsby. Labor has chosen not to
02:35field candidates in any of today's by-elections. But here in Pittwater, it looks as though
02:41blue is likely to turn to teal, and the crowd here is ecstatic.