Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian has conceded defeat in the seat of Bradfield, abandoning her court challenge to overturn the result 145 days after the federal election.
Kapterian, who narrowly lost to independent Nicolette Boele, released a statement on Thursday saying she was satisfied the correct outcome had been declared in the once blue-ribbon seat, held by the Liberal party since its creation in 1949.
“After a final review of the ballot papers following the two different results in Bradfield, I am satisfied that, overall, the correct outcome has been declared,” Kapterian said.
“After asking the on-field decision to go to the video umpire, we have had the opportunity to review the play and can now be satisfied the right call was made … thank you to all those involved, including the AEC, in undertaking the review.”
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Boele, in response to Kapterian’s announcement, said she would continue to serve the electorate with integrity.
“Being part of this process has given me an even greater appreciation for the safeguards we have in place, and the value of every single vote. While we watch checks and balances erode in other countries, our electoral and judicial processes are something we can genuinely celebrate here at home.”
The vote count in Bradfield in the 3 May federal election saw several swings of fortune for the candidates.
Initially, Boele was declared the provisional winner of the seat from a two-candidate-preferred count, with a margin of 40 votes.
But Kapterian led the independent by just eight votes by the end of the final distribution of preferences.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) ordered a recount of the seat on 23 May.
Following the recount, Boele was declared the winner by 26 votes, and was sworn in to what is now the most marginal seat in the country.
Kapterian petitioned to the high court in July, claiming 56 votes for her had wrongfully been rejected by the AEC while 95 votes for Boele had been wrongfully accepted.
Kapterian said because the initial results were so close, her team felt it was “the right call” to retest the ballots.
“Both sides challenged the determinations made – I think it was a total of over 320 ballots,” she said. “Based on the submissions that were made, I think many challenges would have been successful,”
“Ultimately though, I don’t think the final outcome would have involved enough ballots changing sides to overturn the result.”
A hearing date in the federal court had been set for 2 October, after their legal teams were provided access to almost 800 ballot papers for analysis.
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Kapterian said in her statement that the nation was at a “crucial juncture”, with declining living standards for the next generation and crises in housing and the cost of government services.
She also appeared to take a swipe at recent commentary from Coalition figures around immigration.
“I am the daughter of migrants who came to this country because of the promise of Australia. I believe the Liberal party’s future success depends on a policy agenda that speaks to aspirational Australians,” she said.
“I’m disappointed to miss out on contributing from inside the party room but I will continue to play my part.”
She told Guardian Australia her campaign had faced “major headwinds from a very weak national policy agenda and campaign”.
“That said, our local campaign did manage to win back former teal voters in places like Willoughby and Northbridge. I am proud of that,” she said.
“The pathway back for the Liberal party in seats like Bradfield is to focus on the big national and global challenges – inflation, housing, productivity, intergenerational equity, energy and national security, and climate,” she said.
The Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, had held a spot in her shadow ministry open for Kapterian, pending the court challenge.
Electoral commissioner Jeff Pope said the process showed the strong integrity of Australia’s electoral system.
“Australians can be confident that the AEC left absolutely no stone unturned when it came to scrutinising this extremely close election result,” Pope said.
