Liberal MP Melissa Price to represent Durack for fifth term despite increased Labor support nationwide

Despite Labor claiming a strong victory in the Federal election, regional voters, including those in Durack, have again turned their backs on the Government, with Liberal MP Melissa Price re-elected for a fifth term.

As of Monday morning, Ms Price had 32.4 per cent of first-preference votes, which led to her leading 59.9 per cent to Labor candidate Karen Wheatland’s 40.1 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.

The result in Durack, which saw a swing towards the Liberal party of 5.3 per cent, went against the national trend, which was a 2.6 per cent swing towards Labor, according to the Australian Electoral Commission.

In declaring her victory, Ms Price conceded it was bittersweet, saying the Liberals would have “some soul-searching to do” in the wake of Labor’s landslide national victory.

“We keep talking about this rebuild. I’m certainly hoping that I’ve been able to do a rebuild,” she said.

“I had a 15 per cent margin before the last election. Most of us lost 10 per cent. I ended up on a 4.7 per cent margin. Hopefully, I’m going to get back up to 15 per cent, so I’d like to say, I’ve rebuilt, but I’ve got a lot more to do.

“There’s a long way to go and certainly the Liberal Party has to do some soul-searching and I want to be a key part of that … I’m up for the fight.”

Ms Price’s victory in Durack — Australia’s biggest electorate at 1.4 million square kilometres — means she will sit for a fifth term in Parliament, equalling her predecessor Barry Haase.

The result also means the electorate remains a Liberal seat, having been so since its inception.

“I think what that says about the Durack community, even though I’m in Opposition, I’ve still been their voice,” she said.

“The Liberal brand has stood up in Geraldton and that’s actually the thing that I’m most proud of.”

The results nationwide show Labor has been popular in the metropolitan areas while support for the Coalition appeared to be stronger in regional areas.

The trend follows what occurred in the WA State election, where regional WA mostly voted for either the Liberals or the Nationals, including in Geraldton and the Mid West.

Three out of the four regional WA electorates were won by the Liberals.

Every polling booth in the Mid West — except Rangeway, which was a 50-50 split between Liberal and Labor — was in Ms Price’s favour. Labor was leading in many of the booths in the Pilbara and Kimberley.

Ms Price, who spent the majority of time at her election night function poring over incoming polling booth numbers on a whiteboard, vowed to continue to be a voice for her electorate.

“I know what I need to do and it is continuously hold the Labor Government to account and when they say they’re going to do something when they don’t is make a noise about that.

“Keep the Sheep is as a classic example of that — myself and (Liberal O’Connor MP) Rick Wilson, we were out there a long time before anybody was doing anything about Keep the Sheep, and I feel like we really pushed the farming community to stand up for themselves.

“I still have a voice for regional Western Australia and that’s what I intend to do going forward.”

Ms Price said it was “heartbreaking” to see Opposition leader Peter Dutton lose his own seat, saying he had been a “fabulous” leader. She said it was too early to speculate on party leadership as the outcomes of some seats were still in the balance. As chief opposition whip, Ms Price will co-ordinate the formal partyroom meeting to elect a new leader.

In conceding defeat, Ms Wheatland said she and her team had given their all.

“Over the past months, I’ve travelled thousands of kilometres across this vast electorate — the biggest in Australia — often with little more than a hire car, a backpack, and a whole lot of heart,” she said.

“With minimal resources, a tiny (but mighty) team, and incredible volunteers, we built something real. I listened, I learned, and I saw just how much people care about their future.

“This wasn’t just a campaign, it was a reminder of what matters: showing up, doing the work, and staying connected to community.”

Nationals candidate Bailey Kempton also had a strong showing with 13.6 per cent of first-preference votes, and early on was neck-and-neck with Ms Wheatland.

Mr Kempton said he was proud of the result, but promised to continue to support regional communities despite the loss.

“It’s clear that the people of Durack are looking for a different approach, and the result here has been a rejection of Albanese and his relentless attacks on our regional communities,” he said.

“My heart is with our sheep farmers and those involved in the industry that is the beating heart of many regional communities, and who have been unfairly targeted by Albanese.

“I promise to continue standing up for those left behind by Labor.”

Mr Kempton had a less than ideal preparation to Saturday’s election, having to replace corflutes which were allegedly taken down by Labor volunteers on election eve.

Photos obtained by the Geraldton Guardian show Liberal and Nationals signage stacked near bushes, where Mr Kempton alleged they were removed and replaced with Labor signage.

He said he was disappointed with the situation in an otherwise amicable campaign amongst the parties.

“When you put at least five hours working in throughout the night to do a really good job of putting signage up and do the right thing; when you think you’ve achieved that, you’re trying to wrap it up in the early hours of the morning and you realise that a big portion of your work has been undone, it’s very disappointing to be honest,” Mr Kempton said.

In Geraldton, the prepoll effect meant fewer people were queuing to vote on election day, with 14,169 placing their votes early.

Despite the lower turnout and some rain, democracy sausages were flying off the barbecues, with a number of schools raising funds for school trips later this year.

Allendale Primary School said multiple trips to Coles had to be taken to replenish stocks on the day as the Year 6 students raised funds for their Perth trip.

Meanwhile, Wandina Primary School students raised funds for their annual Coral Bay trip.