ALP Josh Wilson wins Fremantle by-election despite low voter turnout

JOSH Wilson has regained the federal seat of Fremantle in the weekend’s by-election despite a low voter turnout.

Mr Wilson, an Australian Labor Party (ALP) member, was caught up in the dual citizenship scandal and forced to resign.

In the 2016 election, the voter turnout was 88.81 per cent, with only four per cent informal votes.

Saturday’s by-election recorded a 64.82 per cent turnout with 7.26 per cent informal votes.

Mr Wilson received 52.69 per cent of the votes with a swing of 11.7 per cent towards him.

Greens candidate Dorinda Cox received 16.54 per cent of the vote.

The Liberal Democrats received a 14.01 per cent swing towards them after not running a candidate in the last election and registering 14.01 per cent of the vote on Saturday.

The Greens had a 1.2 per cent swing against them, receiving 16.54 per cent of the vote.

Mr Wilson said it was a strong result.

“It was the first time we have won on the primaries in a long time,” he said.

“It has really spurred me to work harder and sharpened more than ever the important responsibility to work as a representative.

“I can’t wait to get back into it.”

Wilson “humbled and grateful”

Mr Wilson says he is humbled and grateful to represent the port city again.

“I think it’s a great responsibility, I’m looking forward doing that work again,” he said.

“It was the biggest campaign I had ever been a part of, we spoke to more than we have ever done before.”

The Fremantle member said he had always wanted to see a high voter turnout.

“In the case of a by-election when the Liberals couldn’t be bothered to run a candidate there tends to be less focus,” he said.

“It’s an opportunity for the Australian Electoral Commission to consider how they promote information better, for us it was the biggest person to person campaign we have ever run by a long way.”

Mr Wilson said the campaign reinforced that people wanted to be heard or be able to contact their representatives.

“One of the frustrations I did hear was the implementation of the NBN,” he said.

“I certainly heard from people experiencing flat wages; worried about having less work.”