Federal Labor MPs David Smith, Andrew Leigh and Alicia Payne as well as Senator Katy Gallagher have all been re-elected. Photo: Region
Labor’s David Smith will no doubt be feeling a sense of relief that after nine days of vote counting for the seat of Bean, it has finally been decided and he will retain it for the Federal Government.
He will also certainly be grappling with a bunch of other emotions as he embraces the reality that he allowed one of the safest Labor seats in the country to become one of the most marginal.
Before the election, Labor held Bean by an almost 13 per cent margin. It clings onto it now without even a 1 per cent buffer.
That’s quite an extraordinary feat.
It is even more so when considering the trifecta of reasons that Labor should not have been so embarrassed in Bean.
First, Canberra is a Labor town, as was evidenced by the large margin the party had in all three House of Representatives seats from the ACT.
It was a no-brainer they’d all be returned, right?
Second, this federal election saw a Coalition attack on the nation’s capital like never before.
Canberrans flocked to make sure Peter Dutton’s plans for the ACT, for the APS and working parents were not implemented.
That meant voting for Labor en masse in the capital, yeah?
Then third, the anti-Dutton sentiment was so strong around the nation that Labor trounced the Opposition in a landslide win that significantly increased the government’s majority, increased individual margins, and relegated the Coalition to many years in the wilderness.
Voters even turned on the Greens to make sure Labor had a majority and the Coalition was pummelled.
That emphatic message would only be magnified in the ACT vote, surely?
One would think the answer to all three of those points in question would be a firm “yes”.
Yet, here we are with Labour’s two northern-based MPs having increased their margins while their man in the south watched his disappear.
No one saw that coming, except for Region and the voters in the electorate.
There are plenty of reasons for this result.
Voters in the south have long felt a sense of second-class citizenry, which this federal election did nothing to assuage.
The campaign’s major infrastructure pledges were all for projects in the north.
There was also an extremely credible alternative to Labor in Bean this election, in the independent Jessie Price.
Ms Price ran an extraordinarily good campaign.
Being backed by Climate 200 with its considerable campaign funding and army of volunteers certainly helped there.
But Climate 200 doesn’t go to bat for just anyone; it has to first be convinced of the candidate’s credentials and commitment.
As Jessie Price proved to the organisation and the electorate, she’s the real deal.
Yet while these factors were certainly instrumental in Bean’s outcome, the main issue was that it had an incumbent whom hardly anyone knew.
That might be understandable for a new contender, but for a two-term incumbent MP who was also previously a Senator, it’s inexcusable.
Can anyone in the ACT imagine seeing a photograph of Katy Gallagher and having no idea who she is?
Of course not. That’s Politics 101. Be known in the electorate. Be visible.
The fact that most voters in Bean didn’t know who Mr Smith was or what he even looked like only served to add to their feelings of being neglected and taken for granted.
That sentiment was festering by the time the election was called, with the electorate demanding a member who would show up for them.
Mr Smith has had the scare of his political life and Labor has some serious reflecting to do in the ACT, which is a shame for them with so much celebration going on.
Labor’s victory in Bean is to be rightly congratulated. A win is a win is a win.
Mr Smith’s feelings of relief are genuine and deserved.
But those other emotions he might be working his way through at the moment could include bewilderment, embarrassment, regret and/or a renewed determination.
He also might be feeling a little bit nervous about his preselection for the next federal election.
