General News
30 November, 2022
Victoria votes: Coalition retains south west
THE Coalition recorded a blue wave of victories across its south west strongholds at the 2022 Victorian Election over the weekend.
THE Coalition recorded a blue wave of victories across its south west strongholds at the 2022 Victorian Election over the weekend.
Liberal members for South West Coast and Polwarth, Roma Britnell and Richard Riordan respectively, along with Nationals’ MP for Lowan Emma Kealy, each retained their seats as Victorians cast their votes.
The success did not translate across the rest of the state, with the Liberals slumping to one of the worst election results in party history.
At the time of publication, Labor had won 52 seats with seven seats still considered too close to call.
The Liberals have won just 16 seats, with nine going to the Nationals and four going to the Greens.
In response to the heavy loss, Liberal leader Matthew Guy announced he would be stepping down from party leadership.
Despite the struggles across the state, the Coalition staved off what was expected to be a hard fight in the south west.
At the time of publication, Ms Britnell held 58.20 per cent of two candidate preferred votes over Labor’s Kylie Gaston (41.80 per cent), a six per cent swing to the Liberal party.
Areas picked up from Polwarth in the changes to electoral boundaries at this election provided a significant boost for Ms Britnell.
In Terang she received 477 first preference votes compared to 198 for Gaston and 114 for independent challenger Carol Altmann.
In Noorat Ms Britnell received 201 first preference votes, leading Gaston (35) and Altmann (24).
In Panmure, which was part of South West Coast prior to the boundary changes, Ms Britnell received 173 first preference votes to Altmann’s 35 and Gaston’s 29.
Speaking with WD News following her victory, Ms Britnell said she was “honoured and encouraged by the convincing result” to again represent the people of SouthWest Coast.
“It’s giving me more drive and commitment than I had even before to represent our electorate so we get our fair share,” she said.
“For too long we’ve been forgotten.
“Unfortunately we’ve got another Labor Government, which we’ve had for 19 of the last 23 years, and they still haven’t figured out where the country is.”
Ms Britnell said she would continue to be a “fierce advocate” for the South West Coast, and push for the region to “get its fair share”, with roads a primary example of the region’s underfunded infrastructure.
She said she would again extend an invitation to the Premier to “come for a drive on south west roads”.
“Perhaps he can drive from Terang to Noorat and experience, first hand, some of the most dangerous roads that our drivers have to encounter,” Ms Britnell said.
With a six per cent swing to Ms Britnell, despite belief South West Coast could potentially flip for the first time in the district’s history, Ms Britnell said she felt voters backed her “genuine care” for the community.
“I have talked to many of our community members who know I am genuinely committed to the electorate and I am more interested in outcomes than the politics,” she said.
“People’s BS radars can pick a genuine person who really wants to do the role.”
The electorate of Lowan remained one of the safest seats in Victoria, with Ms Kealy nabbing 72.64 per cent of two candidate preferred votes with less than a percentage swing against – defeating Labor’s Mick Monaghan (27.36per cent).
Ms Kealy nabbed the most first preference votes in Caramut (34 over 15 to Labor) and Mortlake (271 over 184 to Labor).
Speaking with WD News this week, she said it was “incredibly humbling” to again be elected to represent the people of Lowan.
“We’ve worked really hard over the past four years to ensure we’ve got a great investment in the local area including schools, the health system, community infrastructure and a bit in to our roads,” Ms Kealy said.
“We know more needs to be done but my view of what it means to be a local member is to make sure we get our fair share, to make sure people have someone they can trust and turn to if they need assistance, and to work with people who have great ideas on how to build up our region.
“We do all we can to make those ideas a reality so it’s been a busy four years and I feel absolutely humbled and honoured to continue in this role.”
Ms Kealy thanked her staff and volunteers for their support, saying she could not have achieved such a strong result without them.
“I’m the person who sits in Parliament, the name and the face, but I have an incredible team around me who do a fabulous job supporting the constituents of Lowan,”she said.
“I have to give a shout out to the magnificent volunteers who supported me and helped to share our message – it isn’t just one person who does this.”
Ms Kealy, who is also the Nationals deputy leader, said she was pleased to see the Nationals pick up four seats.
“Our party room is now up to 11 MPs, which includes seven women, and that’s something the Nationals have fought very hard for,”she said.
“We’ve been listening to our communities and working strongly as a team to make sure we had a strong policy platform with a vision for regional Victoria that local people wantto see.
“People want their fair share of infrastructure funding, they want to see improvements in our roads just to make them safe and they want to see investments in key areas such as our health care system.
“I think that resonated well with voters, and it is now our job to fight for what people voted for, even in opposition; we don’t have access to the cheque book, but I feel like I’m an expert in opposition to get a good deal for our region.”
In Polwarth, Mr Riordan held on to win (52.62 per cent over Labor’s Hutch Hussein at 47.38 per cent) despite a three per cent swing to the Labor party.
This included a strong performance in Ecklin, where Mr Riordan grabbed 144 votes (31 to Labor).