Fremantle was one of three Labor seats in WA that the party retained, with Melissa Parke now having to work under a Liberal Government for the first time in her Federal career.
As of yesterday, 41 of the 44 polling places in the Fremantle electorate had been returned with a tick over 72,000 votes counted. Preferences helped Ms Parke, who amassed 54.93 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, while Liberal Matthew Hanssen had 45.07 per cent of the vote.
But the usually safe Labor seat had a slight Liberal swing, with Mr Hanssen picking up a 0.77 per cent swing in his favour from the 2010 election.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOWIn an electorate with 11 candidates, only the Greens and Palmer United Party managed to get a vote count that went into the quadruple figures.
The new government means Ms Parke will lose her two-month-old International Development portfolio.
She said it was ‘an honour’ to have been re-elected to represent Fremantle.
‘I look forward to continuing my work on behalf of this fantastic community, and I want to thank everyone who supported my positive campaign,’ she said.
WA Greens Senator Scott Ludlam, who has an office in Fremantle, looks likely to regain his seat in the Senate for another term as Senate votes continue to be counted.