THERE were no surprises in the election result on Saturday night for the seat of Lowan with The Nationals’ candidate and incumbent Emma Kealy securing a third term in the Victorian Parliament.
Ms Kealy increased her margin by 0.6 per cent to 21 per cent, with 22,733 (60.3 per cent) of first preference votes.
As expected, she polled well ahead of the Labor Party’s candidate, Mick Monaghan, who copped a swing against him, in line with that across the state, albeit slightly smaller at 2.3 per cent, finishing with 19.1 per cent of first preferences from a total of 7192 votes.
Ms Kealy said it was very humbling to have had the support she enjoyed over the last eight years, and to be re-elected once again.
Across the state, The Nationals performed extremely well, picking up three extra seats in the lower house in Mildura, Shepparton, and Morwell, all from Independents.
“It was an incredible result for the Nats,” Ms Kealy said.
“We had fabulous candidates, and we will have five new people in the party room which is a great outcome for the state.
“The hard work continues.
“We put in the hard work, and we’ll continue to be fierce community advocates – people who will stand up for the community and take the fight to the government.
“I will continue to be Lowan’s strong voice in the parliament – especially on roads and the Hamilton Hospital.”
In third place from seven candidates, Richard Lane increased the margin for The Greens by 0.2 per cent to 5.5 per cent, with 2089 first preferences votes.
He was followed by the only Independent candidate standing in Lowan, Amanda Mead, who got 5.5 per cent from 2055 votes.
The newly formed Angry Victorians Party came in fifth with 1460 votes and 3.87 per cent of first preferences, ahead of Family First who tallied 3.5 per cent and 1317 votes and the Animal Justice Party at 2.22 per cent with 836 votes.
In the South West Coast, the Liberal Party’s Roma Britnell was re-elected and increased her margin by 5 per cent, tallying 43 per cent of first preferences, with 17,855 votes to a margin of 8.5 per cent.
Former Warrnambool City Council mayor and Labor Party candidate, Kylie Gaston, copped some of the swing against her party across the state of 3.5 per cent, with 8783 first preference votes tallying 21.1 per cent.
High profile journalist and strong Independent candidate, Carol Altmann, polled well but only managed to secure around a third of the Liberal Party’s tally at 14.9 per cent, with 6184 first preferences.
Asked how she felt about being re-elected for the second time, and increasing her margin, Ms Britnell was quick to sing the praises of her staff and her team of supporters around her of whom she is very protective.
“They are just amazing,” she said.
“I have a wonderful team of supporters around me.
She said she and her team had all worked extremely hard during the campaign but said she was not about to slow down.
“I feel great,” she said.
“I am so lucky to have so much energy and get around all the towns in the amazing electorate of South West Coast.
“I love people and there’s so much work to be done to hold the Andrews Government to account and we will be getting on with it.”
On Tuesday morning, Ms Britnell confirmed she had been approached to consider running for the position of deputy leader of the Liberal Party of Victoria following the resignation of leader Matthew Guy and the opening of executive positions.
“I think it’s very important as a party that we get the right people in these roles of leader and deputy,” she said.
“I am certainly very happy to put myself up as a candidate for the deputy leader role of the team.
“We need a good mix of representation and definitely someone who understands the regions – and as a woman – they’re all very good reasons to consider my candidacy for the deputy leader position.”
In the Upper House, the five candidates elected to the Western Victoria Legislative Council included Jacinta Ermacora for the Labor Party in the first spot, next were incumbents, Liberal Party MP, Bev McArthur, and Labor MP, Gayle Tierney (both re-elected), new member for the Liberal Party, Joe McCracken, and the Legalise Cannabis candidate, Andrew Dowling.
