By Lachlan Ellis<\/p>\n
The state election is over, and the people of the new seat of Eureka have voted in Labor\u2019s Michaela Settle as their representative at Spring Street.<\/p>\n
Ms Settle was elected the Member for Buninyong at the 2018 state election, but that seat was abolished and largely replaced by the new District of Eureka ahead of the 2022 state election.<\/p>\n
The new District of Eureka takes in Moorabool and Golden Plains Shire along with the eastern suburbs of Ballarat such as Golden Point, Mount Clear, and Canadian.<\/p>\n
Ms Settle said it was an honour to be re-elected to the Victorian Parliament, and to be elected as Eureka\u2019s first MP.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a huge honour to represent your community in the Victorian Parliament and I am grateful for such strong support in the election,\u201d she told the Moorabool News.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the last four years, I\u2019ve spread my time over every part of Moorabool Shire, in communities big and small. I will keep it up over the next four years because locals know what communities need, and because I\u2019m here to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the time of writing, 66.1 per cent of the votes in Eureka have been counted, with Ms Settle currently leading her Liberal counterpart Paul Tatchell 56 per cent to 44 per cent on preference count.<\/p>\n
Per current results the seat has seen a 3.6 per cent swing towards the Liberals, compared to the former District of Buninyong.<\/p>\n
Mr Tatchell congratulated Ms Settle on her win, and said he would \u201ccontinue to work with her on Council\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichaela has been a good Member for us anyway and we get along, it was a clean campaign. I\u2019m not overly disappointed, it was a fairly big margin to make up, and we\u2019ve had a fairly healthy swing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen postal votes and pre-polls are counted, we\u2019ll probably end up with a five or six per cent swing. What you take out of that is that it keeps us out of that \u2018extremely safe seat\u2019 status\u2026that will ensure we keep the funding tap flowing, which was the main premise of me running.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Tatchell thanked the team of volunteers who joined his campaign for their \u201cextraordinary support\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a very small team, but a large group of volunteers who offered their services for the cause. From that perspective I couldn\u2019t be more pleased,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Among her main priorities as the inaugural Member for Eureka, Ms Settle says, are \u201cmaking sure important local commitments like improving traffic flow and a new home for the bowls clubs in Bacchus Marsh are on track\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lachlan Ellis The state election is over, and the people of the new seat of Eureka have voted in Labor\u2019s Michaela Settle as their representative at Spring Street. Ms Settle was elected the Member for Buninyong at the 2018 state election, but that seat was abolished and largely replaced by the new District of […]<\/p>\n