Liberal Party candidate Jenny Ware admits she was a little surprised by the size of her win in the seat of Hughes.
The lawyer from Gymea Bay entered the race only six before the election following months of preselection turmoil.
Her opponents included independent Georgia Steele, who began campaigning in October 2021 and advertised extensively with Climate 200 funding and community donations, totalling $610,000.
Progressive vote count:
- Jenny Ware (Liberal) - 35,987
- Pete Thompson (The Greens) - 4968
- Georgia Steele (independent) - 12,358
- Craig Kelly (United Australia Party) - 6177
- Narelle Seymour (Pauline Hanson's One Nation) - 2068
- Linda Seymour (independent) - 2730
- Riley Campbell (Labor) - 18,518
Ms Ware said, "I feel privileged the people of Hughes have put their faith in me and given me the opportunity to represent them, and I will do so to the absolute best of my ability."
"The vote is perhaps higher than what we expected," she said. "I think the reason the numbers are what they are is a reflection of the way each individual ran their campaign," she said.
"We ran a grassroots campaign and, from what I saw, Labor did the same.
"Ms Steele's campaign was run in a very different way."
Labor candidate Riley Campbell said, "We needed a 3.5 per cent swing nationally and we were able to deliver that in Hughes and defeat 'teal' independents and give the Liberals a bruising and a bloody nose".
"There has been a swing to Labor in almost every seat.
"My entire campaign team were volunteers, who gave their time while doing full time jobs, which wasn't the case with some candidates."
Ms Steele said in a Facebook post, "I am so proud to have been part of a movement which swept across Australia, demanding more for all of us".
"Our community stood up, spoke up, and turned up. Hughes will never be taken for granted again."
Independent Linda Seymour quipped, "First the good news, we beat Pauline's Hanson's Narelle Seymour".
"Last night Australia had a change of heart and a change of government," she continued.
"There are a couple of ways of winning, you can push people over or you can win people over.
"Our self proclaimed bulldozer ex PM is in the first camp. Australian's do not want that style of politics any more. I am very very glad to see the back of it. It's destructive. I am extremely proud to say that I, and We Are Hughes are in the win people over dignified camp."