From her home at Callala Beach on the South Coast, Fiona Phillips was celebrating a rare bright result for Labor in NSW on Sunday.
New member for Gilmore Fiona Phillips with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in Nowra during the campaign.With former Liberal MP Ann Sudmalis not recontesting, Ms Phillips beat high profile Liberal candidate Warren Mundine with a 3.6 per cent swing. Ms Phillips, a mother of four teenagers who grew up on a dairy farm near Nowra, was delighted to return Gilmore to Labor for the first time since 1996. But as she watched the count on Saturday night, Labor's poor performance nationally made it bittersweet.Credit:"I was mainly focusing on Gilmore and watching the results come in," Ms Phillips said. "We had great results in some booths that we'd never won before.
gmaddox With due respect, the other candidate was a diversity pick with a Labor background. The seat was given away.
gmaddox fiboydphillips worked so hard that people saw her as our representative even before election day. She attended so many local events and kept building bridges. Her campaign launch was a great occasion.
gmaddox So basically your saying preferences got her there.