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Australian election news and updates live: NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb set to walk away from top job

Peta Rasdien and Max CorstorphanThe Nightly
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NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb is reportedly set to step down.
Camera IconNSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb is reportedly set to step down. Credit: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

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Wilson may have claimed victory but Daniel refuses to concede

Zoe Daniel has refused to concede Godlstein, despite Liberal Tim Wilson claiming victory.

Ms Daniel prematurely celebrated winning the seat on Saturday night, hours after poll booths closed but a postal vote surge saw Mr Wilson over the line.

In a statement, Ms Daniel said she wanted to “respect the democratic process”.

“While the media has called the result in Goldstein I will wait for further counting out of respect for my scrutineers and the democratic process,” she said.

“This seems sensible given the margin is in the hundreds and there are about 12 thousand remaining votes to be counted.”

With 83.9 per cent of votes counted in the tight race, Mr Wilson has secured 50.5 per cent of the votes, while Ms Daniels has 49.5 per cent.

Wilson’s pointed dig at Daniels

Paying tribute to his campaign team, Tim Wilson has had a pointed dig at his defeated opponent Zoe Daniel.

He said his campaign focused on the issues affecting the people of of Goldstein after spending the past three years listening and engaging.

“We did not have massive cheques written to us by entities based in Sydney who tried to treat the community like it was an acquisition trust fund.

“We built a very much from the bottom up and I think there are a lot of lessons for a recovering Liberal Party about how it wants to take on the future of the country and that is why we are so proud because we shared this victory together.”

Tim Wilson says ‘tenacity’ helped defeat Zoe Daniel

Tim Wilson has spoken after claiming victory over teal independent Zoe Daniel in Goldstein.

It marks a return to Federal Parliament for Mr Wilson who lost his seat when Daniel secured it at the 2022 election.

Mr Wilson said three years ago the Liberal Party was “written off” in the area, but tenacity had helped win the seat back.

“The privilege of public service once is something that has been afforded to me by the people of Goldstein. To be given that privilege once again is something that is almost unbelievable and I do so very much with a sense of humility and respect for the electorate and of course for the great trust that they have given me.”

He continued: “I think we have seen that in the election results very clearly that people want that sense of hope, aspiration, belief about the future and that is what we appealed to and that is what we have done and delivered.”

2025 Federal Election

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb to step down

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb is reportedly set to walk away from the top job.

After three turbulent years, it’s understood Commissioner Webb will step down on May 18, The Daily Telegraph reports.

NSW Police has been contacted for comment.

Max Corstorphan

Dutton’s new assessment on Federal election outcome

Following what has been described as a “humiliating loss” for the Coalition, former Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has offered a new assessment on the 2025 Federal election result.

After conceding the election and his seat of Dickson, Mr Dutton has remained rather quiet, however, 2GB host Ben Fordham revealed new comments from the former MP on his Sydney program on Wednesday.

Fordham, who had a private conversation with Mr Dutton, revealed the former leader didn’t want to “buy in” on excuses. Instead, Mr Dutton told Fordham that “Albo deserved to win”.

The radio host paid tribute to Mr Dutton’s political legacy, saying: “When his record is considered, away from this election campaign, he’s got plenty to be proud of.”

Labor ministry to reflect high proportion of women in Caucus

Labor’s Cabinet and full ministry can be expected to reflect the high proportion of women returned to the caucus after the recent election, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has said.

“We were the first female majority government in Australia’s history in 2022 – 53 per cent of the caucus were women. And I expect that it will be higher than that when all of the seats are determined in our caucus from 2025,” she told ABC Radio National Breakfast.

“So that makes our job easier, making sure that it’s reflected through all positions in the party, because it’s not just the ministry, it will be a whole lot of other positions as well,” she said.

Senator Gallagher will be retaining her finance portfolio, which she held in the last term, as well as serving as Minister for Women and Public Service.

Future portfolio decisions lay in the hands of the Prime Minister, but he had been “very proud of the fact that he had a Minister for Women who was Minister for Finance, that we had a gender equal cabinet,” she said.

“The thing about gender equality in the Labor Party is everyone in the caucus is for gender equality, that conversation or that argument has been won. So it’s an easy discussion for us.”

Max Corstorphan

‘Not a marriage’: Canavan on Liberals, Nationals future

National Party Senator Matt Canavan says the Coalition with the Liberal Party is a “business relationship, not a marriage”, as the fallout from the 2025 election loss continues.

Speaking to Sky News, Senator Canavan said he wasn’t seeking a Coalition break-up, however, wanted “all options” on the table to allow the Nationals to “fight” for Australians.

“We’ve always found a way to work with our Liberal colleagues in that time,” he said.

“But I would argue that when we’ve been at our most successful is when the National Party has instigated debate on many of these issues.

“It was the National Party that first stood against Kevin Rudd’s carbon tax. Six months later, he was no longer the Prime Minister.

“It was the Nationals Party that saved the Adani mines by a bunch of bedwetting Liberals that wanted to kill it. And that saved the 2019 election of the Morrison government.

“And so we should never be shy in the National Party of putting forward our view.

“I worry that we have been gun-shy in this last term of parliament in a futile attempt to give the Liberals space or some sort of opportunity to win seats in the city.”

Max Corstorphan

Labor MP speaks following Teal’s fall from grace

Labor Senator Murray Watt has shared his thoughts on Teal Zoe Daniel’s premature victory claim after she sensationally lost her seat on Tuesday.

“Politics is all about timing, isn’t it. You can get these judgment calls wrong,” he told Sunrise.

“We all have people crunching the numbers throughout the night, and in the days following, to try to work out where preferences are going to go and things like that. And in these really close seats, it can be really hard to work out what is going to happen.

“I obviously feel for her. It’s not a great experience.”

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