NSW election 2015: Mike Baird's Coalition retains government despite swing to Labor

Updated

Mike Baird has been re-elected as New South Wales Premier despite a big swing to Labor in the state election.

The Liberal leader was given a rapturous welcome at the Coalition HQ at a hotel in the Sydney CBD as he accepted victory at 9:40pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

"We sought a mandate to make NSW great," Mr Baird said.

"And tonight, the people of NSW have given us that mandate, and to them we say thank you."

"We will do what we say we are going to do, and to the people of NSW I say this: I will guarantee that we'll work every day for you to make your lives better.

"That's what we're going to do and the reason we're going to do it is because I love this state."

Mr Baird also thanked his federal counterpart, Prime Minister Tony Abbott, for his support during the election campaign.

"He [Mr Abbott] understood the need to put more funds into NSW and he has done that as a Prime Minister," Mr Baird said.

"I thank him for his support, his federal colleagues and it's great to have [Foreign Minister] Julie Bishop with us tonight as well."

The Coalition is on track to win 53 seats, with Labor set to secure 34 and the Greens appearing likely to win four.

Just 20 minutes earlier, Opposition Leader Luke Foley addressed the Labor Party faithful at the Catholic Club in Lidcombe to concede defeat at 9:20pm and was full of praise for his political opponent.

"Mike Baird took over the leadership of the Liberal Party and the Government when his Government had entered very stormy waters and he steered the ship to safety," he said.

"He is a formidable opponent. He's at the peak of his popularity. He's also an honourable opponent.

"Right through this campaign Mike Baird and I have both ensured that it was never personal.

"I want to thank Mike for the way he's conducted himself during the course of this campaign."

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the result showed voters were willing to embrace reform.

"It certainly did show that if the people understand the nature of the reform and people understand the problem, then they'll be happy to be part of the solution," she said.

"And I think, given the outcome in Victoria and the outcome in Queensland, there was a sense that the Australian people weren't ready for reform.

"Well, this has proven that that is not the case and that people are understanding of the challenges that can come from an economy that was, quite frankly under Labor, in the doldrums."

Luke Foley says he intends to stay on as Labor leader

Mr Foley said despite the electoral defeat, the party had made strong progress to regain the trust of the people of NSW.

"A majority of voters have decided that now is too soon for Labor to return to Government," Mr Foley said.

"I understand their decision and I accept it. But friends, the people of NSW have breathed new life into state Labor today.

"We've received a half a million votes more today than we did at the last election.

"At the last election we won 20 seats. At this election, we'll finish with a number of seats in the mid 30s."

ABC election analyst Antony Green called the result at 8:20pm, and said Labor would be unable to win enough seats to form Government.

Labor secured a statewide swing of more than 9 per cent.

"The Labor Party needed to be going beyond that [swing] to win this election, and they may win Strathfield, but they certainly won't win the election," he said.

Deputy Liberal leader and Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said the Government had expected to lose seats but was "thrilled" with the outcome so far.

"We're thrilled with some of the results we're seeing, but there is still a lot of counting to go," Ms Berejiklian said.

"It's interesting to see in some areas we're actually seeing swings to the Government, which we hadn't anticipated.

"So far, I'm pleasantly surprised with the result. I hadn't anticipated that we'd hold onto some of these areas quite as well as we have."

The result was in little doubt, with exit polls predicting the outcome as voting ended at 6:00pm.

Early counting showed the swing against the incumbent Government was inconsistent throughout the state, but the Coalition would hold enough key seats to retain power.

Earlier on Saturday, deputy Labor leader Linda Burney said she believed Labor was likely to lose the election, but the swing was important for the party's standing in future elections.

She told 702 ABC Sydney she knew Labor would not win enough seats to form government, and would now instead focus on rebuilding.

"The real issue for us is that this is being seen as a rebuild after the 2011 devastation.

"If we can take the margins off seats right across NSW, and I think we will, that puts us in a fantastic position for forthcoming elections."

Editor's note (30/3/15): This story has been updated to remove an incorrect mention of Gladys Berejiklian as the NSW Deputy Premier. The Deputy Premier is Troy Grant, the leader of the NSW Nationals.

Topics: elections, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, nsw

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