Liberal Party adds much-needed woman to ranks with Mary Aldred win in MonashBy Madeleine StuchberyABC GippslandTopic:Australian Federal Elections1h ago1 hours agoMon 12 May 2025 at 10:41pmMary Aldred was the Liberal Party candidate for the seat of Monash at this year's election. (ABC Gippsland: Millicent Spencer)In short:The Liberals's Mary Aldred has claimed the Victorian seat of Monash after 10 days of complex vote counting.Gippsland's first female federal government representative in the lower house says she has always felt respected as a woman by her Liberal Party colleagues.What's next?Ms Aldred says she will focus on small and family businesses across Gippsland as she begins her tenure.abc.net.au/news/monash-federal-election-mary-aldred-win-in-vote-recount/105089656Link copiedShareShare articleVictorian Liberal MP Mary Aldred has vowed to "get cracking" on standing up for small businesses and employment across Gippsland as she starts day one in her new job as the federal member for Monash in regional Victoria.The ABC is projecting Mary Aldred will take the Gippsland seat for the first time after a complicated vote count concluded 10 days after the Albanese government claimed overall election victory.In her first interview since her election win, Ms Aldred said she was humbled by the result after a drawn-out vote count."It's looking like a very clear result, which I'm very humbled by," Ms Aldred said. "I will wait for the formalities to be announced by an appropriate entity but at this stage it looks like a clear outcome."My community is about to send me to Canberra to do a job and that is to stand up for them. I will not take a backwards step."Mary Aldred gathered the most primary votes but the election came down to preferences. (ABC News: Daniel Fermer)Ms Aldred said she will take a "national stand" for small and family businesses "from day one".She is also the first female federal government representative in the lower house in Gippsland, an achievement "that is not lost on me"."I've been a member of the Liberal party for a long time. All my way through I've had very supportive friendships," she said.The southern Victorian seat, which stretches from Wilsons Promontory in the south to Warragul in the west and Aberfeldy in the north, had been on a knife's edge since polls closed on May 3.It came down to a three-way contest between Ms Aldred who outpolled the field on primary votes, Labor's Tully Fletcher, and independent candidate Deb Leonard.Tully Fletcher, Mary Aldred (centre) and Deb Leonard contested the seat of Monash. (Supplied; ABC News)There were no candidates with more than a third of the first preference vote, and it had not been clear which two candidates would be the final two in the count.A 'highly unusual' countMonash became a seat to watch in 2023 when Liberal Party stalwart Russell Broadbent lost party preselection to Ms Aldred.He placed fourth in this month's election after standing as an independent.Voting at Leongatha in the seat of Monash saw results on the knife's edge. (ABC Gippsland: Madeleine Stuchbery)Election fallout and analysis:'Third party' vote looks set to beat CoalitionLabor win turns sour as the bloody realpolitik takes centre stageIn Australia, the conclaves continue for the top job in politicsWant even more? Here's where you can find all our 2025 federal election coverageCatch the latest interviews and in-depth coverage on ABC iview and ABC ListenMs Aldred's campaign manager Garry Blackwood said it had been a "weird" and "highly unusual" recount of votes."I was talking to some supervisors down at the vote-counting centre here in Warragul and one of them, in particular, had been doing this job for 50 years and never come across [the format of re-counting votes] before," he said."I think it must be a new idea that the the AEC has come up with to to make sure that the preference flows come up with the right results."To me it's a bit of a departure from tradition because traditionally we've had the two-party-preferred method and that's served us very, very well.Federal politics live updates: Get the latest on the post-election landscapeLive results: Find out what's happening in your seat as counting continuesIndependent contestThis election was Phillip Island-based lawyer Deb Leonard's second tilt at the seat and she mounted a long and well-financed campaign.Deb Leonard casting her vote at the 2025 federal election. (Supplied: Deb Leonard)Ms Leonard did not distribute any preferences on her how-to-vote cards which she said partially contributed to the complexity of the count."It's very unpredictable," she said."People have decided not to follow the how-to-vote cards. They're thinking for themselves about where their vote will go."That's also part of what's made this count [unusual] because preferences aren't flowing to where you'd normally expect them to go."Ms Aldred was the founding CEO of the Committee for Gippsland and CEO of the Franchise Council of Australia.The 2025 election explained:Your four-minute guide to the federal election resultsWho is Ali France, the incoming MP who unseated Peter Dutton?ABC Gippsland — local news in your inboxGet our local newsletter, delivered free each TuesdayYour information is being handled in accordance with the ABC Privacy Collection Statement.Email addressSubscribePosted 1h ago1 hours agoMon 12 May 2025 at 10:41pm, updated 37m ago37 minutes agoMon 12 May 2025 at 11:59pmShare optionsCopy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)Top StoriesSussan Ley is the new leader of the Liberal party, PM's new ministry being sworn inLIVEPhoto shows A close-up of Jim Chalmers in front of a black background. 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