Monique Ryan has proved she is no ‘one-hit wonder’, with the teal independent vanquishing a second Liberal rival in succession.
With 56.1 per cent of the vote counted, the former paediatric neurologist held an estimated lead of about four per cent in the Melbourne seat of Kooyong over Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer.
Dr Ryan took a swipe at members of a secretive Christian sect known as the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, campaigning for Ms Hamer.
‘We’re still waiting for some data to come in,’ she told supporters at the Auburn Hotel late on Saturday night.
‘But it seems pretty clear that despite the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, this band of brothers has overcome the Brethren.’
While Ms Hamer is yet to concede, Dr Ryan concluded her speech with ‘let’s have a party’ as Tina Turner’s River Deep Mountain High blared through the venue.
Kooyong was one of many former Liberal heartland seats to fall to teal independents in 2022.
Dr Ryan ousted senior Liberal Josh Frydenberg, the first sitting treasurer to lose his seat since Ted Theodore at the 1931 election.
Despite fears of the teals being a ‘one-hit wonder’, Dr Ryan was confident the crossbench could hold or even expand.
‘Clearly the coalition has lost ground across the country,’ she told reporters earlier in the night.
‘So it seems quite likely … that there might well be more seats on the crossbench.’
The campaign in Kooyong has been marred by various controversial moments, including a legal spat between the Liberals and a council over pre-poll signs.
Dr Ryan was also forced to apologise after her husband was caught pulling down a sign of her political opponent.
Meanwhile, Ms Hamer was criticised for failing to disclose she owned apartments in Canberra and London after pitching herself as a struggling renter.
The independent MP described the campaign as ‘bruising’ in comparison to her ‘joyous’ and ‘fun’ 2022 tilt.
‘This has been tough and there’s lots of reasons for that,’ Dr Ryan said.
‘We’re a different country from where we were three years ago and we have some challenges, we have some bridges to rebuild and some things to mend.
‘But I think we can do that as a country and I hope we can do that in the next three years.’
