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KERRYN Phelps went on television this morning, absorbing the aftermath of his victory in the Wentworth by-election.
It was before his margin on Liberal candidate Dave Sharma suddenly tightened to less than a thousand votes.
For more information on this vote count, check out our live blog.
Dr. Phelps told the CBA insiders program "a sequence of events" had sealed the fate of the government in Wentworth.
"There has been a series of events that have exacerbated the exasperation of the people vis-à-vis the Liberal Party," said Dr. Phelps.
"They seemed to be interested only in their own interests. They only seem to want to talk about their leadership challenges and their factional battles. It's like, "Wait a second, we're here, we're the Australian people, we want you to focus on our problems."
She said the government's refusal to release her report on religious freedom, as well as the subsequent suggestion that gay children be expelled from their schools, was the first blow to Sharma's campaign.
The other problem was the government's seemingly accidental support of Pauline Hanson's motion "It's good to be white" in the Senate.
Ms. Phelps is mocked by her explanation.
"The next excuse was," Oops, we did not want to, we did not read the motion. "How can you call responsible government and do this kind of thing?
In the preparations for the by-election, MM. Sharma and Scott Morrison said Phelps would destabilize Parliament and could even bring down the government.
She said insiders she thought that "all governments should sit full time except in exceptional circumstances" and she would not vote rashly in favor of a motion of censure.
"We saw that kind of carelessness last week when people voted on motions they did not read or understand, and that's not how I work. I need proof. I need to see a complete brief. I need to know what I'm voting on, said Dr. Phelps.
She admitted that she had been "torn" about her candidacy for the presidency and always thought that her candidacy was a "far off the field".
"It was the last thing that came to my mind until Malcolm Turbull was thrown in the trash, then wherever I went in the streets of the eastern suburbs, somebody asked me," Would you like to run to Wentworth? I said.
"Jackie and I had to sit down and as a family we had to talk about what it would mean, consequences for our life and that I should spend so much time in Canberra.
"I was not ready to make the decision and announce that I would do it until we knew we could do it right."
She certainly did it correctly.
Dr. Phelps was greeted with a roar of jubilation as she arrived at her victory party at the North Bondi Surf Bond Life Bonders Club, and the noise did not fade before five minutes.
She took her time to stand at the front of the room, stopping to hug five supporters. On several occasions, she even started dancing and an impromptu moshpit quickly formed around her.
The burgeoning lyrics of Macklemore's song Glorious – "I feel glorious, glorious" – summed up perfectly the atmosphere.
There were bursts of laughter as she began her speech with a verbal gap, thanking "the residents of Warringah – Wentworth!
Warringah, of course, is the seat of Tony Abbott.
Cries of joy and some spontaneous words "Kerryn, Kerryn!" Greeted virtually every sentence she uttered.
"This privilege makes me humble and I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you," she said before descending into the crowd.
The mood changed soon after, as a group of Dr. Phelps supporters saw Premier Scott Morrison speak at the Liberal party ceremony.
Mr. Morrison's provocative speech attracted many of the most raucous spectators.
"There will be hard days and good days," said Morrison.
"It will be a big day when we will kick you out!", Launched a fan on TV.
The defeated Liberal candidate, Dave Sharma, received a more respectful reception, perhaps because his speech was particularly magnanimous – not only to Dr. Phelps, but also to the old Wentworth member, Malcolm Turnbull.
