By JESSE GRAHAM
THE Liberals have maintained their standing in the Yarra Valley despite losing government last weekend, with all local MPs holding their seats through the election.
In the newly-established Eildon electorate, former Seymour MP Cindy McLeish scooped the vote on Saturday 29 November, and is the likely winner with 54.5 per cent of the votes as of Monday 1 December.
Labor’s Sally Brennan trailed close behind in the polls with 45.5 per cent of the vote and a 3.6 per cent swing against the Liberal Party.
Though only 69.9 per cent of the votes have been counted, with pre-polling votes coming in late on Monday, Ms Brennan said she had conceded the seat to Ms McLeish.
Ms McLeish said the victory was “bitter-sweet”, having simultaneously won the seat of Eildon but losing government to Labor.
“It’s hard to celebrate, given the circumstances,” she said.
“I’d prefer not to be in Opposition, but I certainly will continue to be a strong representative for people in the area and advocate for them as individuals or as parts of an organisation.”
The election day atmosphere was buzzing around Healesville, with the majority of the candidates making an early call into Healesville’s Memo Hall to hand out how-to-vote cards and meet voters.
From the opening of the polls at 8am, the line to vote at the Memo Hall ran through the building, onto the street and around the corner, with more people shuffling into line as the day wore on.
Independent candidate, Bruce Argyle enlisted some celebrity assistance to his campaign, with veteran actor John Wood donning a “Vote 1 Bruce Argyle” shirt and handing out material.
But the election result wasn’t to be for Mr Argyle, who received just 3.4 per cent of the first-preference vote.
The Greens’ Marie Sellstrom took home 11 per cent of the vote, meanwhile, while the Nationals’ candidate, Jim Child, received 6.3 per cent.
The Australian Country Alliance’s Jeffrey Leake received three per cent of the initial vote, Family First’s David Prentice received 2.2 per cent, while independent candidate Jane Judd received two per cent.
Over the evening, seat after seat was declared for Labor and the party was announced as the winner at around 10pm after winning 45 seats – the majority of seats in the lower house.
As a result of Labor’s victory, Yarra Junction Primary School will receive $2 million to replace damaged and condemned buildings.
New premier Daniel Andrews has also pledged to re-open Lilydale’s Swinburne University campus through any means necessary, along with supplying $10 million for refurbishing the site.
The party pledged early in the election campaign to re-open the campus for university and TAFE services, though no provider has yet been named for the proposal.
Ms Brennan said that, despite her loss in Eildon, she was pleased with the state-wide result for her party.
“I’m very pleased with the result,” she said.
“I would have loved to have won it (Eildon), but we’ve made some serious inroads into it being a safe seat – it is now definitely not a safe seat.”
While she said she had not decided whether or not she would stand at the 2018 election, Ms Brennan said Labor would have a fighting chance in Eildon.
“I think whoever does run in the next election will have a very real chance of winning it,” she said.
Ms McLeish, speaking to the Mail on Sunday, said there was no time to rest, as she moved out of her former Seymour office to another in the Eildon electorate this week.
She said that her job for the next four years would be to hold the new government to account and to campaign for projects promised by the Liberals before the election.
To her supporters, she had one thing to say:
“Thank you for the support, and the continued support you’ve shown me – I’ve worked particularly hard and do my best to never let people down.”
The Liberal Party’s Christine Fyffe also held onto the seat of Evelyn through the weekend, with 59.5 per cent of the vote after preferences, while Labor’s Peter Harris received 40.5 per cent. Only 58.6 per cent of the vote has been counted for Evelyn.
The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) began rechecking votes for the Eildon electorate on Tuesday 2 December.
The recheck involves scrutineers recounting all the ballot papers from Election Day and confirming their numbers before adding in early votes and postal votes.
For the final results, see next week’s Mail.
