Small victory for the Liberals in WA as Ben Small secures Forrest after close three-way race

The new face for Forrest Ben Small says his win shows regional WA doesn’t feel heard by the Government in Canberra. Speaking to his gathered supporters on election night, Mr Small said he was “bursting with pride” having earned the trust of South West residents to represent them in Parliament. “There’s no doubt that tonight has been a difficult night for the Liberal Party elsewhere, but for months now, I haven’t looked at a letter box outside the seat of Forrest,” he said. “From a year spent talking to local people and listening to their concerns and then pushing my positive plan out for consideration by the community, I am so heartened to have seen the votes come in tonight and to have earned that trust from local people.” Mr Small said he couldn’t have been clearer about his priorities though his campaign, to scrap the Geographe Bay wind farm, back farmers and keep the sheep, build the Busselton and Margaret River airport, back sporting and community clubs across the South West, and to stand up for regional people. “I have been really pleased tonight to see that across Western Australia, there is a clear message for Prime Minister Albanese — on an otherwise very positive night for him — that regional Western Australians don’t feel heard by his Government in Canberra,” he said. “So, I’m looking forward to getting to work for the people of Forrest, to go into Canberra to stand up for the things that we do believe in here that are of fundamental importance to our prosperity as a State and a nation.” Mr Small said he was ready and looking forward to getting right into work, though he joked he would first like to mow his lawn which he said was “sadly neglected” over the election campaign. “Having done that, I’m looking forward to getting to work, and there’s a there’s a significant amount the Liberal Party needs to work through, and that is clear from tonight’s results,” he said. “I’m looking forward to rolling my sleeves up as the newly minted member for Forrest, to getting over to Canberra and to seeing what the Albanese Government are proposing for their second term, and what that will mean for people in our part of the world. “Because, again, local people have backed my positive plan and my priorities, so, it’s a matter of now taking those to Canberra and seeing what we can do.” Despite a brutal election evening for the Liberal Party nationally, Mr Small was able to secure the seat picking up 52.2 per cent of the two candidate preferred votes with a margin of 4.6 per cent against Labor’s Tabitha Dowding — a slightly higher margin than when the seat was last contested in 2022. While early in the night it looked like it was all going to go Ms Dowding’s way, with her own count swinging in her favour and a second Labor term being called early into the night, the cold, hard light of Sunday morning brought her disappointing news - Mr Small had the edge over her. “I was really proud of the results that came through and when where the results stopped on Saturday night — that was pretty incredible,” she said. “I think that the team that I’ve got were bloody amazing, and we wouldn’t have been able to do that without the South West Labor crew, I think it just goes to prove how how strong we are down here still.” Ms Dowding said with more young people coming into the region the next election could be interesting. “I would love to be considered to do this again,” she said. “I think we definitely have a chance.” Ms Dowding said she now plans to recoup and recover from the campaign with some time off. Mr Small managed to collect 31.75 per cent of first preference votes with Ms Dowding securing 22.69 per cent. Independent candidate Sue Chapman, who was one of the strongest contenders going into the election, secured 18.45 per cent of first preference votes. Despite the defeat, Dr Chapman was full of pride on Saturday evening and said she was “very happy” with the overall outcome of the election. “This journey has been absolutely amazing,” she said. “I’m incredibly proud of the campaign, the conversations we have sparked, and the community we have built, from very humble beginnings around a table in the library in Bunbury, we have brought people along, and we have created a movement. “This electorate will never sit down and just be taken for granted ever again.” Dr Chapman said she expected the race for the seat of Forrest to be tight with people having an appetite for “something different”. “I think often what will happen with people who chose to vote for an independent or a non-major party, they are saying they are sick and tired of the two-party system, and so they’re preferencing basically anyone who isn’t a part of that two-party system,” she said. The seat of Forrest was previously held by Liberal MP Nola Marino for 17 years. The Liberal Party began its reign over Forrest in 1949 when Gordon Freeth was elected, and has held it consecutively with the exception of the 1969 win by Labor — which was the last time the party held the seat. The cities of Bunbury and Busselton, and the shires of Augusta-Margaret River, Capel, Dardanup and Harvey, make up the Forrest electorate.

Small victory for the Liberals in WA as Ben Small secures Forrest after close three-way race

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