Independent MP Dai Le looks like holding the seat of Fowler against Labor’s Tu Le (Anthony Albanese has said it was a mistake for the party to run Kristina Keneally in Tu Le’s place at the last election, but it looks like it has come too late)

Dai Le told the ABC she thinks she has made a difference in the parliament and her electorate knows that:

Can I say that I’m glad to see that both the major parties, you know, are now focusing on the cost of living. As the first independent to be elected to the federal parliament, I believe I was the first ever to raise the issue on cost of living in May 2022, and 2023.

So, I’ve been driving the conversation in Parliament, asking questions around tax cuts, around HECS reduction, around petrol fuel excise tax cut, about Medicare, so I’ve been, you know, harping on about those issues.

It’s great to see the major parties are now campaigning on those issues. I wonder though it’s a bit too little, too late for our community. Who are still really feeling, you know, the rise in interest rates, the rise in cost of living in particular for food, we have a lot of families here that are now lining up, asking for food hampers. Grocery prices have gone up. For businesses, energy price has gone up by more than 30%, and I hear that daily when I go out there and speak to those communities. Not just small businesses but also families struggling to pay their bills. So, um, I’m glad to see the major parties are campaigning on issues that I have been fighting for. And yeah, let’s see what happens on election day. And whether or not people will feel they’re going to be better off under the current government.