Labor celebrates red-letter local results

YESTERDAY’S (Saturday, November 26) state election was a red-letter day for Labor in the Geelong region, with the party to hold all four of its existing seats and running a highly competitive race in the long-held Liberal seat of Polwarth.

The Labor holds were part of Labor’s overall sweep to victory, with Labor on track to win at least 50 of the 45 seats required for an outright majority as of this morning, with the Liberals winning only 25 and nine seats in doubt.

Labor candidates, volunteers and supporters gathered at Geelong Trades Hall after the polls closed yesterday to follow the TV coverage and celebrate their win.

Lara

Ella George has kept the seat of Lara in Labor hands, taking over from the seat’s former MP John Eren.

With 68 per cent of the vote counted, Ms George had more than half of first preferences and 66.7 per cent of the two-party preferred vote ahead of Liberal candidate Ralph Krein.

Ms George opened her remarks with a tribute to Mr Eren, her former boss and a nearly two-decade veteran of politics.

“John leaves behind the most incredible legacy, and if I can achieve half of that in my time, I know I’ll be doing good,” she said.

“As a candidate, I could not have asked for a better experience than to have John by my side, so thank you so much for so many years of friendship, thank you for being the most incredible mentor I could have ever asked for.

“The results today really speak for themselves across the entire Geelong region; what a fantastic outcome we have.

“The voters today have really chosen Labor’s positive platform, our positive policies – whether it’s free TAFE, free kinder, bringing back state-owned electricity.”

Bellarine

Alison Marchant has also stepped into the shoes vacated by a retiring Labor MP, winning the seat previously held by Lisa Neville.

With just under 70 per cent of votes counted, Ms Marchant had 42.7 per cent of first preferences and 58.4 per cent of the two-party preferred vote ahead of Liberal candidate Donnie Grigau.

Ms Marchant admitted to feeling a bit overwhelmed at the result.

“I remember a few months ago, I was talking to people about why they should elect a Labor Government, and I said to them ‘because it’s a decent government, it’s a decent government that’ll look after our most vulnerable and our weakest’, and that was the reason why I wanted to put my hand up; to put the community first.

“Lisa left a huge legacy as well across the Bellarine, and very big shoes to fill – a lot of people have told me that, ‘you’ve got big shoes to fill’. I have got big feet, so that’ll help, but there’s more to do, there’s always more to do.”

Geelong

Geelong was one of the first local seats the TV coverage declared for Labor on Saturday, with incumbent MP Christine Couzens winning as expected for another four years.

With 73.58 per cent of the vote counted, Ms Couzens was pulling further ahead, receiving more than 47 per cent of first preferences and nearly 65 per cent of the two-party preferred vote ahead of Liberal candidate James Bennett-Hullin.

Ms Couzens said it was “such a privilege” to be elected the Member for Geelong for a third term.

“I do want to thank obviously the Labor team on stage tonight for all their hard work, and what an amazing team we are,” she said to the crowd.

“But none of us are standing here tonight without the support of every single one of you, and the many who are not here tonight.

“Labor wins elections on the basis of its volunteer base, and for that, we are very grateful.

“The privilege of holding office in an Andrews Labor Government is extraordinary, and I have to pay tribute to the Premier, who has been a tower of strength for all of us, having put up with so much crap.”

South Barwon

Darren Cheeseman held onto South Barwon for Labor, with the seat becoming geographically smaller following an electoral distribution.

With 66 per cent of the vote counted, Mr Cheeseman has more than 45 per cent of first preferences and just under 60 per cent of the two-party preferred vote ahead of the Liberals’ Andrew Katos, who was attempting to win back the seat he lost at the 2018 election.

Mr Cheeseman said the result was vindication of the “very optimistic plan” Labor took to the election, citing the re-establishment of the State Electricity Commission as one example.

“When we look, of course, at Matthew Guy had on offer, what he had was negativity and division in this state, and that is what he took to the people of Victoria, and they rejected it, and the people of Geelong rejected that very strongly.

“Labor’s positive plans for this state will build a modern state for all of us where we can prosper and enjoy a fantastic place to live and raise our families.”

Polwarth

After a redistribution made the Liberal seat of Polwarth marginal, Hutch Hussein stood for Labor in an attempt to give Polwarth not only its first Labor MP in the seat’s more than 120-year history but also its first female MP.

At least one broadcaster reported Ms Hussein ahead at one point on Saturday night but incumbent Liberal MP Richard Riordan appears set to hang on with 75 per cent of votes counted, with 43 per cent of first preferences and 52.62 of the two-party preferred vote.

“We’ve given it a damn good showing!” Ms Hussein said.

“Today as I travelled from Winchelsea, to Colac, to Camperdown, to Cobden, to Apollo Bay, to Aireys Inlet, and back to Torquay, I met volunteers who hadn’t seen a Labor candidate, I met voters who haven’t seen an ALP candidate.

“We’ve put the Liberal Party on notice at this stage; Polwarth should be Labor heartland.”

Upper House (Western Victoria Region)

INCUMBENT Labor Member for Western Victoria Gayle Tierney said counting for the Upper House had not started on Saturday, but Lower House candidates generated numbers for the Upper House.

“Clearly, in terms of that sea of red in Geelong and the Geelong region, it obviously means we will stand a really good chance in the Upper House to at least get that first and second spot, and also it looks as if in Ballarat – the seond-biggest population in Western Victoria Region – we have retained both of those seats as well.

“This is my fifth election, and we have got so much more work to do.”

Statewide, the Liberals are already grappling with the implications of their loss, with Opposition Leader Matthew Guy announcing this morning that he had resigned from the leadership and would not be a candidate when the Liberal party room elects its new leadership team.