Zali Steggall

Liberal Finance Minister Simon Birmingham has said there were “clear mistakes” and “process breakdowns” in the pre-selection of Liberal candidate Deves.

Deves voted at St Kieran’s Catholic Church in Manly Vale, which lacked a sausage sizzle, and insisted she had a chance of winning, despite Steggall holding the seat on a margin of just over 7 per cent. Its display reads “Next stop, Zali” though she is hoping her next stop will be a return to Canberra with a boosted crop of teal independents. At the Deves function, where the media were sequestered from the main crowd, an appearance of Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes a Court and another by Steggall on an election broadcast had supporters riled up. “Everyone in my team signs to three P’s: to be polite, positive and prepared.” Steggall said. “There’s always going to be ... those kind of allegations, but no, I’m very confident that it’s got nothing to do with my team.” He said in the last election Steggall’s supporters were “infamously tearing down our materials”.

Senator Simon Birmingham has described the success of Warringah member Zali Steggall as sending an important message about Australian values.

“These are issues that we will have to clearly address. “I certainly hope we will have more community independents in this parliament, and actually more representation, because ultimately by having more independents we will address more of the issues that matter to our community. “In the case of Warringah, and we’ve all seen the issues that played out there, I think it sends a message about what Australians believe when it comes to issues of respect, of inclusion, of diversity, and that message is Australians want people to respect their lives, but they also have a strong and profound respect for the lives of others, and the circumstances of others.

Teal independent Zali Steggall has beaten controversial Liberal candidate Katherine Deves to retain the seat of Warringah.

She also stated she welcomes the rise of more teal independents. Her opponent Katherine Deves was a polarising figure throughout the campaign due to her transphobic comments. Teal independent Zali Steggall has beaten controversial Liberal candidate Katherine Deves to retain the seat of Warringah.

ZALI Steggall has won Warringah, declaring it a win for community and promising to focus on integrity and equality in her second federal government term.

- Follow us on This is how you can access our trusted content: "It is an incredible honour to represent you for another three years," she told the cheering crowd.

Independent candidate Zali Steggall has retained her seat of Warringah, defeating Liberal challenger Katherine Deves.

ZALI Steggall has won Warringah, declaring it a win for community and promising to focus on integrity and equality in her second federal government term.

This is how you can access our trusted content: As the count continued, and an unprecedented number of Independents were elected, Ms Steggall said she was excited about what the future held. "As a former elite athlete, I want to win!