Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says he is not ready to concede defeat in his inner-city Melbourne seat even as his rival all but claims victory.
Speaking to the media this morning, Frydenberg said 16,000 postal votes were still to be counted in Kooyong, which amounted to 12 per cent of the overall vote.
“It is mathematically possible that I could retain Kooyong, but it is obviously very, very difficult,” he said.
“That being said, I will wait until more postal votes are counted before saying any more about the particular results in Kooyong.”
With a little more than 71 per cent of the vote counted on Sunday night, teal independent Monique Ryan was ahead of Frydenberg on preferences by a projected 54 per cent to 46 per cent.
Media reports have called the seat as a win for Ryan, who on Sunday afternoon said the result hadn’t yet “sunk in”.
“I think that there is a momentum for change in Australia, in the Australian political system,” she said.
“I don’t think any of us understands what we have achieved, we have built on a grassroots movement and it doesn’t end here.”
Frydenberg was asked if Scott Morrison was to blame for the Coalition’s crushing defeat.
He said there were “a lot of factors” involved, and he remained loyal to Morrison in order to provide stability to the country’s leadership.
“I think he has provided outstanding leadership, extraordinary leadership in extraordinary times,” Frydenberg said.
“There was no playbook for the pandemic.”
Frydenberg was elected as MP for Kooyong in 2010, and was appointed Treasurer and deputy Liberal leader under Scott Morrison in 2018.
He was considered a potential leader-in-waiting of the Liberal party, but his likely exit from Parliament would leave outgoing defence minister Peter Dutton in the box seat.
