George, Couzens hold seats as part of Labor’s election win

ELLA George ensured Lara will remain in Labor hands and Christine Couzens secured a third term in Geelong as part of Labor’s state election win.

With more than 68 per cent of votes counted in Lara on Tuesday night, Ms George had won on first preferences alone (50.89 per cent) and had 66 per cent of the two-party preferred vote head of Liberal candidate Ralph Krein.

As well as paying tribute to the retiring John Eren, who represented the Lara community for 20 years, Ms George thanked voters for the “incredible” opportunity.

“The results really speak for themselves across the entire Geelong region; what a fantastic outcome we have,” she said

Ms Couzens’ win in Geelong, though expected, was clear, with 47 per cent of first preferences and nearly 65 per cent of the two-party preferred vote ahead of the Liberals’ James Bennett-Hullin.

 

“I’m so grateful for the opportunity to work with such an amazing Premier over the past eight years and I am so much looking forward to the next four years,” she said.

In the Upper House, counting in the six seats in the Western Victorian Region is 70 per cent complete.

Based on the indicative quotas, lead Labor candidates Jacinta Ermacora and Gayle Tierney will be elected; the Liberals have 1.67 quotas, so Beverley McArthur will hold her seat and Joe McCracken is likely to be elected; and the Greens have 0.5 quotas, putting Sarah Mansfield in line to win the fifth seat.

All seats are dependent on preference flows – Legalise Cannabis Victoria candidate Andrew Dowling is next best with 0.29 quotas.

Incumbents Stuart Grimley from Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party and Andy Meddick from the Animal Justice Party are some way back, at 0.11 and 0.10 respectively.

Across Victoria, Labor looks set to win at least 51 seats in the lower house, six more than the number needed for an outright majority and giving Premier Daniel Andrews a third term.

The Liberals will win at least 25 seats but will have to choose a new leader, with Opposition Leader Matthew Guy announcing on Sunday he would resign from the role and would not contest the position.