By JUSTINE FERRARI

11nov01

JOHN Howard's home State of NSW yesterday swung in behind the Prime Minister to assure him a third term of Government.

The Coalition gained a 3.2 per cent swing in NSW with 53 per cent of the vote counted, to hold 52 per cent of the vote on a two-party preferred basis.

The Liberal Party last night claimed victory in the south-western Sydney seat of Macarthur and was leading in the western Sydney seat of Parramatta.

The Coalition also had a chance of winning the central coast seat of Dobell from the ALP, held by frontbencher Michael Lee, and the Hunter Valley seat of Paterson.

The Government lost the northern NSW seat of New England to Independent candidate Tony Windsor, who wrested the seat from National Party member Stuart St Clair.

The government-held seats of Richmond, held by frontbencher Larry Anthony in northern NSW, and Eden-Monaro on the south coast, were in doubt last night with strong challenges from the ALP.

The Labor Party also had a chance of winning the northern NSW seat of Richmond from government frontbencher Larry Anthony.

In the northern Sydney seat of Warringah, Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott fought off a strong challenge from Independent candidate Peter Macdonald.

Mr Abbott held his seat with a margin of 12.8 per cent but said he had to work very hard to hang on.

"It's been the political fight of my life," he said.

"I'm relieved, I'm not complacent and I'm not cocky."

Earlier, the election campaign was marred by allegations of dirty tricks with the Coalition accusing the ALP of continuing to run a GST scare campaign on election day.

Labor allegedly phoned voters in their homes in 12 seats in NSW and Victoria, telling them the Coalition would raise the rate of the GST and extend the tax to fresh food.

The Liberal Party attempted to gain an injunction in the Federal Court to stop the so-called "push-polling", but it was thrown out for lack of evidence.

"They had absolutely no evidence," State ALP secretary Eric Roozendahl told The Sunday Telegraph. "It was thrown out and we were awarded costs."

But Liberal Party State director Scott Morrison said Labor continued to push-poll in the dying hours of the election campaign in three NSW seats and two Victorian seats.

Mr Morrison said these seats include New England in northern NSW, Warringah in northern Sydney, as well as Eden-Monaro in southern NSW, Paterson north of the Hunter Valley, Richmond on the Queensland border and Dobell on the Central Coast.

"I think it's extremely disappointing that Labor has resorted to pushing lies and untruths on people in their homes as a last-minute, desperate attempt to mislead people in how they should vote," Mr Morrison said.

In the Coalition's most marginal seat, Richmond, held by 0.1 per cent, the National Party said it received 100 complaints against the ALP using "push-polling" to undermine Coalition frontbencher Larry Anthony.

"Labor was calling people in the electorate as late as 9 o'clock this morning, telling them the Howard Government would raise the GST to 15 per cent and put it on fresh food," Mr Anthony's spokesman Murray Lees said.

In the rural seat of Eden-Monaro, Liberal candidate Gary Nairn said the ALP had push-polled from Wednesday night until polling day.

"They called up, and said if you vote for me (Mr Nairn), I will increase the rate of the GST and put it on all food," he said.

"They basically did that in the name of the Labor candidate over and over for the past three days."

Labor accused One Nation and the Liberal Party of "being in cahoots" after a man was seen handing out how-to-vote cards for both parties in the marginal seat of Parramatta.

The man, Rodney Collins, said he had no political allegiance, but was being paid $10 an hour to hand out One Nation leaflets at Parramatta Town Hall. He said he wore a shirt and a cap promoting sitting Liberal member Ross Cameron because "everyone else had one on so I put one on as well".