It took more than a week of counting and a complex three-candidate preferred count before a result in Monash was clear.
At the close of counting last Monday night, Australian Electoral Commission figures put Liberal candidate Mary Aldred more than four per cent in front of the ALP's Tully Fletcher. Later that night, Mr Fletcher conceded defeat.
The final two-candidate preferred vote which showed Ms Aldred on 54.05 per cent over Mr Fletcher on 45.95 per cent may have indicated she won with ease. But in the days leading up to the result, it was a fiercely close battle between the two major party candidates and independent Deb Leonard.
The close count left both Mr Fletcher and Ms Leonard pleased that in unusual circumstances, Monash this time was a close call.
On their primary votes, both Ms Aldred and Mr Fletcher saw swings against them of 6.01 and 5.3 per cent respectively. The 2CP results showed Ms Aldred achieving a 1.15 per cent swing in her favour.
Post election, Ms Leonard said she was pleased the close results had brought attention to Monash.
Mr Fletcher said it had been an unusual campaign with Ms Aldred pre-selected 18 months out - "because the Liberals knew they might lose the seat."
"Our Labor team has worked hard to make Monash marginal and we came close to winning in 2022.
"It was also unusual to have Teals and Liberals spending $1.5 million dollars on over-the-top, saturation marketing full of promises they'll never keep. Gippslanders have never seen anything like it.
"Monash was unusual in having two major party candidates, a sitting ex-Liberal independent MP (Russell Broadbent), and a million-dollar Teal candidate. In that context you'd expect to see swings against both major party primary votes, and we did," he said.
Mr Fletcher said he was proud of his campaign and the federal investment he delivered.
"Thanks to my campaign, our re-elected Albanese Labor Government will fund a permanent Medicare Urgent Care Clinic for Warragul and Drouin, and major works planning for our much-needed new arterial road network.
"I fought this election because Monash has been taken for granted by Liberals for 20 years and that's long enough.
"In only eight weeks, our low-budget Labor campaign outperformed the huge ad spend by our opponents, easily outpolled Million Dollar Deb, and doubled the primary vote of our long-serving sitting MP," he said.
Mr Fletcher acknowledged Ms Aldred, her campaign chair Gary Blackwood, and their team for a fair and respectful contest - "they are good people as well as formidable opponents."
Ms Leonard said she was proud of the community-driven campaign ran by her team.
She said the grassroots campaign was never about her, but about giving Monash a genuine, local voice in Canberra.
"The incredible spirit and commitment of everyone involved shows the hunger for a new way of doing politics in our region – one that puts the community first above all party games.
With an enviable budget from community donations, Ms Leonard said it was a "true community effort."
"This is not the end, but the beginning of a new kind of community politics in Monash. I can't wait to see this evolve."