Teal independent says likely byelection win in Sydney was a ‘race to the top’ with Liberals

Teal independent Jacqui Scruby, the likely winner of the NSW byelection in Pittwater, says the contest in the blue-ribbon seat has shown how strong candidates can encourage a “race to the top” in politics.

“It was a very competitive byelection,” Scruby said on Sunday.

“People were really involved in their democracy and I think that’s an excellent thing.

“There’s a recognition here of the benefits of a competitive seat and how that can cause a race to the top with the major parties as well.”

With preferences factored in, Climate 200-backed independent Scruby was sitting at 55.4%, while the Liberals’ Georgia Ryburn was at 44.6%.

Scruby said she would await the outcome of counting of postal and prepoll votes but said the results so far showed voters “appreciate a different way of doing politics”.

“I think it’s a very exciting testament that people understand community representation and that independents represent them in the way they want to be represented and they’re effective and can deliver,” she said.

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She said existing independents in the NSW parliament, such as the member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, had demonstrated the value of working “policy by policy” and assessing proposals on their merits, rather than a “two party [system] of government and opposition and opposing for opposition’s sake”.

“I think people are excited by that. It’s a more representative and businesslike approach to policy development,” she said.

The Pittwater byelection, triggered by criminal charges being laid against the sitting MP, Rory Amon, which he has denied, was held alongside those in Epping and Hornsby.

The latter two were sparked by the resignations of the former premier Dominic Perrottet and the former treasurer Matt Kean.

The Liberal candidates, Monica Tudehope and James Wallace, were on track to triumph easily in those races, in which Labor did not field candidates.

Scruby said it had been an honour to run alongside Ryburn and it was unfortunate it had “taken a scandal for the Liberal party to preselect a woman”.

“It was absolutely fantastic to see two professional women with families standing in this electorate,” she said.

Ryburn in her speech on Saturday night said although the count was ongoing, the path to victory was difficult.

“What the people of Pittwater told me is that they were so grateful in this campaign to have two strong, competent and intelligent women fighting for our community,” she said.

“While Jacqui and I have our differences, I do believe she loves Pittwater and I respect that.

“The biggest difference, though, between me and Jacqui Scruby is that I am some part of something bigger, so much bigger than myself, and each and every one of us play a role.”

Ryburn told the crowd “while the teal candidates like to push the narrative that they are the David and we are the Goliath, this isn’t the case”.

She said the Liberal party had “taken the high road and run a solid campaign while the teals, the most righteous of them all, slandered us in the media”.

Executive director of Climate 200, Byron Fay, said the result in Pittwater was an indication that community independents could deliver.

“It’s an indication the community continues to look for an alternative to the duopoly – that is, the major parties,” he said.

He said the Pittwater count, as well as federal seats such as Mackellar and Warringah, which are represented by independents, showed there was “a growing independent voting identity in the northern beaches of Sydney”.