The Liberals claimed the West Australian seat after counting at the weekend gave Mr Wyatt a nearly 1000-vote lead over sitting Labor MP Sharryn Jackson, with less than that number of votes to be counted.

Mr Wyatt will become the first indigenous member elected to the House of Representatives, following in the footsteps of Neville Bonner, the first Aboriginal to take a seat in the Senate.

The former director of Aboriginal health in Western Australia and NSW said it was a historic result, since it showed most people were able to look past the colour of his skin and elect him on his achievements.

''In 50 years' time, historians and people will be analysing why Hasluck chose an indigenous candidate,'' he said in Perth yesterday.

''What they'll discover is that they didn't choose an indigenous candidate because I was indigenous. They chose a person who they believed would represent the interests of everybody within Hasluck.

''They chose someone who had the skills in education, health and the bureaucracy and understands the system. Who will speak fiercely. Who will stand up and deliver.''

But on a day that should have been filled with celebration, reports that the 58-year-old had received hate mail added a discordant note.

Mr Wyatt said his office had received about 50 hate-filled emails and postings on websites, including comments by some voters who said they would not have voted for him had they known he was Aboriginal.

He said he was disappointed that strong elements of racism remained in the community.

But for him it was nothing new. ''I've had that all my life as an Aboriginal kid in the '60s, '70s and '80s ... but we've certainly moved forward as a country,'' Mr Wyatt said.

''There will be people who have differences of opinion, which I don't mind in terms of political differences, but when it gets down to very pointed comments, then that hurts.

''Because it means there are others who are also reading those comments and are feeling equal pain because, again, they thought things have moved on.''

Mr Wyatt grew up in a family of 10 for whom money was so tight he helped out by trapping rabbits. When he reached Year 10, his parents were approached by the local Rotary Club, which sponsored him so he could undertake his leaving certificate.

The Labor Party has not conceded defeat.