'Teal wave' might not wash over Hume but change is in the wind

Liberal Angus Taylor so far is leading the polls with 42.65 per cent of the primary vote as of midday on Sunday, May 22.

Labor's Greg Baines has picked up 19.65 per cent of the primary vote and Penny Ackery follows suit with 15.69 per cent.

In comparison to independent Huw Kingston's 5.9 per cent of the primary vote in 2019, Ms Ackery's results mirror a broader trend around Australia as candidates outside of the two major parties rapidly snap up seats.

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So far it appears that 16 seats around Australia will be taken by candidates outside of Labor and the Coalition, this is significantly higher than the six MPs that gained seats in the 2019 election.

Ms Ackery said she believed she had made a difference in how people think about politics.

"I think we've shown that you don't need to be part of a party to pick up votes," she said.

"People can look at the issues around what's happening and make their own minds up."

This election has been coined as a 'teal revolution', revealing how priorities have changed for many Australian voters as they demonstrate that the two major parties just aren't resonating.

Independents campaigned heavily on climate change and political integrity, aspects many voters felt lacked with the previous government.

Ms Ackery said integrity was a crucial election issue in the Hume electorate.

"We're not just talking about individual people that have done the wrong thing but we're talking about privatisation such as what happened in Crookwell with aged care," she said.

"I think the federal ICAC has to go ahead now and it has to be done with teeth."

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While the seat of Hume is yet to be called, Ms Ackery said if Mr Taylor did retain the seat he needed to work with state MPs to fix issues that have been underlooked.

The Picton bypass, connectivity and the environment were just some of the key issues identified by Ms Ackery as crucial for the electorate.

"Gunning for example gets coverage on one side of the road but not the other," she said.

"People have become so much more informed this election and are really going to be on the lookout to make sure that their MP really does a good job."

While it is still unclear whether Labor will gain the seats needed to form a majority government, it is clear that independents will have a major impact over the coming three years.

As for Hume, aside from independent Penny Ackery, One Nation's Rebecca Thompson had picked up 7.75 per cent of the primary vote as of midday on Sunday, May 22 and UAP's Garry Dollin 4.87 per cent.

The Greens candidate Karen Stewart remained towards the back of the pack with just 4.79 per cent of the primary vote, slightly down from the 5.1 per cent the Greens received in 2019.

While One Nation didn't previously run in the electorate, the result for UAP's Garry Dollin was similar to Lynda Abdo's 4.8 per cent in 2019.

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Liberal Angus Taylor and Labor Greg Baines both admitted that Ms Ackery, One Nation and the UAP had all taken votes away from the major parties in the Hume electorate.

Despite parliament undergoing some form of transformation in favour of independents, Ms Ackery said she was unsure whether she would run again.

However, there was one message she hoped to share.

"I want young people to know that you can stand up, it doesn't matter where you are from, you can stand up and have a go," Ms Ackery said.

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