NSW election 2023: Treasurer Matt Kean and Transport Minister David Elliott’s warnings for coalition

Senior Liberal party members have issued stark warnings for the coalition as the first vote counts in the NSW state election suggest a Labor win. 

NSW could be hours away from getting a new premier as the counting continues across the state.

NSW Treasurer Matt Kean and Transport Minister David Elliot made a bleak predictions for the Coalition, who are trying to win a fourth term in government.

Former government minister David Elliott has claimed there is no pathway for the Coalition to win the election.

‘I can’t see a pathway to victory for us, again with the swings against us we’re seeing in western Sydney,’ he said.

‘Stuart Ayres, tragically will probably not be returned which is a shame because I saw him as a future opposition leader.

He said the seat of Pittwater was also ‘difficult’ for the party to win.  

It came after he called the situation in the seat of Parramatta ‘inexcusable’ for the Liberal party and cast doubt over whether they would retain his seat of Castle Hill.

As polling booths across the state closed earler, Mr Kean said the ‘deck is stacked against us’.

‘It would be a historic victory because it hasn’t been done before, four terms, so fighting the tide of history is like fighting gravity,’ he told the ABC.

‘The challenge for us was to present ourselves as a new government, not the reiteration of a 12-year-old government.

‘We really tried to demonstrate that we had fresh ideas.’

Mr Elliott said earlier the early numbers were ‘not good news’ for the Liberal Party, as the first votes were counted.

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet pictured casting his vote on Saturday

‘There have been significant swings against us in western and north western Sydney and even in Castle Hill the Liberal vote is only 40 per cent with Labor at 35 and the Greens at 9,’ he told Channel 7’s election panel.

‘That suggests it could be an early night for a few people in western Sydney, but these are early days only one per cent of the electorate has been counted.

‘But it’s going to be a long night, and don’t forget there have been so many pre-polls this election.’

To win a majority government (47 seats), Labor needs to keep all their 38 seats and pick up another nine from the Coalition; however, the party believes it could also achieve a minority government with five seats.

NSW Transport Minister David Elliott said the early numbers were ‘not good news’ for the Liberal Party

Counting began at 6pm, after polling booths closed. The NSW Electoral Commission will also run a Virtual Tally Room from 6pm, where results will by published throughout the night.

What time will we get a result tonight?

Whether or not there is a clear result on Saturday night, the vote count will stop at 10.30pm and won’t resume till Monday.

In the event of a minority government – in which neither major party wins more than 47 seats – both Labor and the Coalition will need to get the support of the minor parties and Independents in order to create the next parliament.

Campaigning on the eve of the election, the Labor leader said he believed it would ‘come down to the wire’.

‘I do believe it’s going to be tight,’ he said.

‘Most NSW elections, except for a few here and there, are tight contests, and I think that we’ve always known that.’