Nationals MP Pat Conaghan has claimed victory in the NSW Mid North Coast seat of Cowper, after days of vote counting left him neck and neck with teal Independent Caz Heise.
With 99.99 per cent of the ballot papers counted, Mr Conaghan received 52.69 per cent of the votes.
After a nail-biting wait for the Australian Electoral Commission to provide "fresh scrutiny" over the count, Mr Conaghan officially announced his win this afternoon.
He said he had been "humbled" to be given a second opportunity to represent the people of Cowper after a "very tough fight".
"I have learnt an incredible amount over these past three years and have listened to views from all sides," he said.
"I will be taking those views and using them to form decisions for the electorate moving forward."
Mr Conaghan said Ms Heise ran "a very strong campaign and there was change in the wind" but attributed the swing against him to an equally strong campaign by the One Nation candidate Faye Aspiotis.
"We also saw a very strong campaign from One Nation that took votes from me from the right," Mr Conaghan said.
"I think the most damage was actually done by them rather than the Independent at the end of the day."
Independent 'ecstatic' to have turned Cowper into a marginal seat
Ms Heise has congratulated Mr Conaghan on his victory, but said despite the loss, she was "ecstatic" with the result and "incredibly proud" of the movement she's started.
"I can't believe that we've forced a 9.2 per cent swing away from the National party. That may even get more over time as they finish the recount."
The seat has been held by the Country/National Party for all but two years since federation, and Ms Heise said turning the seat marginal was a huge achievement.
Ms Heise said she looks forward to contesting the next federal election with the clear support she's now garnered in the region.
“The Voices 4 Cowper will be back in three years and I intend to put my name forward to enter the preselection process again," she said.
"We're really excited about what we've started, we're really excited that the current government resonates way more with our values."
Lessons learnt
Mr Conaghan said he'll be taking forward the message sent by the surprisingly close election result, as he moves to the backbench.
"It was a definitely a message to the government, more broadly to the Liberal Party," he said.
"One of the biggest issues was we didn’t get an integrity commission, or integrity bill through, we said that we would do that, I certainly supported that and we didn’t get it over the line."
"I know that’s something the Labor Party has put up as one of their first agendas and I will work with them to make sure that happens."
"I will hold Labor to account for the promises they have made, within the NDIS, in aged care or in veterans affairs… I will make sure they fulfil what they said they would do."
