Former Wallabies rugby union captain, active conservationist, independent politician and human brick wall David Pocock has won a seat in the senate some 24 days after the Federal election.
Per the ABC, Pocock has made history in the nation’s capital by being the first independent elected to the senate for the ACT. He beat outgoing Liberal senator Zed Seselja, breaking the long-held tradition of the territory electing a Liberal and a Labor candidate for the senate.
The Australian Electoral Commission confirmed on Tuesday morning that he will join Labor’s Katy Gallagher in the Upper House. It was predicted that Pocock would take the seat from the Liberal Party on the night of the election, but neither he nor Seselja had confirmed the results until June 14.
David Pocock took to social media to celebrate the historical senate win and thanked everyone who had trusted and supported his campaign, which was “aimed to make politics about people”.
We’ve officially made history! Thank you all.
What a huge honour to be able to serve the people of the ACT as a Senator. pic.twitter.com/OoORMmjJ4Z
— David Pocock (@DavidPocock) June 14, 2022
“We built a policy off the back of thousands of conversations about the things that matter,” his post read.
“We kept it positive. We talked about the issues and the ideas for the future we want and it clearly resonated.”
Huge stuff. Can’t believe we now have an impossibly-buff senator in Parliament. If this is the future of government, then we’re all for it.
I mean come on. Those arms in the big house? Deeply about it.
Per Canberra Weekly, Seselja made his concession speech on Tuesday morning where he said he has “always fought for a better deal for Canberra, and for policies that would have a real and positive impact on the lives of Canberrans.”
He also said that he believes the Liberal Party will be back in charge as “things change very quickly” in politics.
“People will write off the Liberal Party as they did in 2007, but we will be back here in the ACT and nationally,” he said.
“I congratulate Peter Dutton on taking on the leadership of the Liberal Party, and I’m confident he will quickly restore our fortunes and return our party to Government.”
Pocock confirmed he’ll have his first quarterly town hall as a senator next month because he wants to be kept “accountable and accessible”. He’ll be meeting and discussing important issues to “continue the conversation” with the ACT community in July and you can sign up to attend over on his website.
