SITTING Member for Wendouree, Juliana Addison, has retained her seat following the State election on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Ms Addison won with a slight two-party preferred swing to her and nearly 50 per cent of the primary vote.<\/p>\n
Liberal candidate and City of Ballarat Cr Samantha McIntosh came in second, impacted by nearly six per cent local primary vote swing away from the Liberal Party.<\/p>\n
Surrounded by her campaign team, volunteers, family and parliamentary colleagues, Ms Addison celebrated her win at Ballarat Trades Hall on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
First been elected in 2018, she said she\u2019s excited to continue representing Labor for her electorate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe result is just extraordinary. The re-election of an Andrews Labor Government that I get to be a part of is going to transform lives,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the amazing initiatives that we\u2019d had eight years of, we will bed down for another four years. This will become a part of Victoria\u2019s social fabric.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegional Victoria plays such an important part in Labor\u2019s story. In the last budget, 35 per cent of the budget was for regional Victoria.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Addison said her priorities will be to continue delivering on the region\u2019s election commitments.<\/p>\n
\u201cVLine train tickets are going to be $9.20 in March and $4.60 for concession. We\u2019re going to deliver that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to deliver a new PET scanning machine for people who have cancer and epilepsy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to continue to put half-a-billion dollars into the hospital in Drummond Street to have world-class care on our doorstep.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re going to do is work harder than we ever have before for the next four years because governing is a gift and we\u2019re not going to waste it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response to the defeat, Cr McIntosh said although she maintained an \u201camazing\u201d campaign, the people of Ballarat have made their decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a $10 billion plan to fix potholes. We had a 25 per cent regional infrastructure guarantee and a big opportunity to fix our health crisis,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still experiencing significant ramifications of how COVID was managed. Our businesses and people are suffering, and that will go on. The people have decided they want more of the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to thank our great supporters of our future and vision. This is the wonderful thing about our country, our democracy, an opportunity for people to state their views.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SITTING Member for Wendouree, Juliana Addison, has retained her seat following the State election on Saturday. Ms Addison won with a slight two-party preferred swing to her and nearly 50 per cent of the primary vote. Liberal candidate and City of Ballarat Cr Samantha McIntosh came in second, impacted by nearly six per cent local […]<\/p>\n