DESPITE a small two-party preferred swing away, the Nationals have comfortably retained the seat of Euroa at last Saturday\u2019s state election.<\/p>\n
Not so small was the change in first preference votes, with new member Annabelle Cleeland, recording a near 25 per cent swing against her.<\/p>\n
Ms Cleeland\u2019s election came on the back of the retirement of popular sitting member, and former Nationals deputy-leader, Steph Ryan.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy inspiration from Steph Ryan is that she was a young women with a great professional past,\u201d Ms Cleeland.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe had the capabilities to do the job effectively and was empathetic but a powerful community advocate.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for what her focus would be when representing the people of Heathcote and surrounds, Ms Cleeland said she wants to work collaboratively with the State Government on basic issues, but is also seeking to hold it to account.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, in the last eight years, we\u2019ve seen a real disparity of investment between Melbourne and regional Victoria, I really want to champion greater investment into regional Victoria,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Heathcote that includes adequate health services for the population growth that it\u2019s experienced and seen a lot of young families move to the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere we need road investment, we\u2019ll be highlighting the consequences of a poor road network and what that means for car accidents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis investment we\u2019re seeking isn\u2019t a luxury, it\u2019s a necessity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Cleeland noted that there were a number of pre-election commitments that were matched by both parties, and she was keen to see action on them soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think one of the best things for the Heathcote region is a lot of our commitments were also supported by Labor,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to see investment in the Heathcote SES and CFA get off the ground in this term.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we saw after the floods, this is quite crucial to have a fit for purpose place to deal with fire and flood going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Euroa running from the edge of Bendigo to the edge of Wangaratta and as far south as Kilmore, Ms Cleeland said keeping connected with the region will be a challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019d like to introduce quite quickly is traveling office space where every community has a chance to approach me and be engaged,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing I\u2019d like to do is continue to accumulate personal stories around issues that impact our communities that I can then echo back into parliament.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve just spent the last three months traveling the entire electorate, which is 11-and-a-half-thousand square kilometres.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be doing that all over again just to make sure that I can advocate effectively in parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n
On a two-party preferred basis, people who voted at the Heathcote booth supported Ms Cleeland over her Labor party rival, Angela Tough, 775 to 697.<\/p>\n
Voting patterns at Redesdale were closer, with Ms Cleeland winning there 94 to 93, but at the Puckapunyal polling place support for the Nationals was more definitive, taking a 96 to 69 result.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DESPITE a small two-party preferred swing away, the Nationals have comfortably retained the seat of Euroa at last Saturday\u2019s state election. Not so small was the change in first preference votes, with new member Annabelle Cleeland, recording a near 25 per cent swing against her. Ms Cleeland\u2019s election came on the back of the retirement […]<\/p>\n