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The Liberal National Party was on track to keep the Queensland seat of Fadden on Saturday night, with early counting showing a swing to the federal opposition.
The LNP candidate Cameron Caldwell, a Gold Coast councillor, was comfortably ahead of Labor’s Letitia Del Fabbro with more than 10 per cent of the vote counted.
Cameron Caldwell, left, is on track to keep Fadden in LNP hands.Credit: Paul Harris
Early counting showed Caldwell receiving a swing of about three per cent to the LNP, although many big booths had yet to be counted.
The byelection was triggered by the resignation of scandal-ridden Stuart Robert, who held the seat on a 10.6 per cent margin.
Labor’s campaign over the last week was focused heavily on Robert’s oversight of the unlawful robo-debt scheme, which he shut down as government services minister in November 2019 following advice from the solicitor-general.
Early counting suggested the byelection will be a better result for Opposition Leader Peter Dutton than the Aston byelection in April, which saw Labor take a seat off the Coalition.
The Australian Electoral Commission had earlier raised concerns over low voter turnout in pre-polling for Fadden, an electorate on the northern end of the Gold Coast, with a median age of 39, and above-average household income compared to the rest of Queensland and Australia.
Turnout was expected to be as low as 80 per cent.
Casting his vote with his wife, Lauren, at a polling booth on Saturday morning, Caldwell was asked if Robert’s involvement in the robo-debt scandal was impacting voters, he said cost of living and crime were bigger issues in the electorate.
“Those are issues that are really starting to bite in their households and it’s whether people can put food on the table and keep the lights switched on,” Caldwell told Sky News.
“That’s really what’s on their mind as they walk into the polling booth today.”
Del Fabbro, a nurse educator, said earlier in the day any swing against the LNP would be a loss to the party.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the average swing against a government in a byelection was about four per cent so anything less would be “embarrassing” for Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
“Our expectations are tempered, but we couldn’t have put forward a better candidate and we’re focused on the issues that matter to people here,” he said.
More to come.
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