Renee Heath wins seat: Electoral commission confirms upper house MPs
Controversial Liberal candidate Renee Heath has been elected to the upper house of state parliament, as the Victorian Electoral Commission confirms results for the Legislative Council.
Results of the upper house count were revealed on Wednesday, more than two weeks after the November state election.
It was expected the Victorian upper house would have an expanded crossbench.Credit:Justin McManus
The Victorian Electoral Commission began tallying votes and distributing preferences for the 40 upper house seats at its counting centre at Melbourne Showgrounds from 10am.
As the first candidate on the Coalition’s ticket for the Eastern Victoria region, Heath’s election was assured.
However, she became a headache for former opposition leader Matthew Guy during the November election campaign when The Age revealed her links to an ultra-conservative church.
Crossbench MP Jeff Bourman, from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, has regained his seat.
The Nationals retained Melina Bath and Labor's Tom McIntosh and Harriet Shing were also elected to the region.
Early analysis indicated the Coalition was likely to extend its representation from 10 seats to about 14, while Labor was expected to slide by one to about 15 seats, meaning the Andrews government would need the support of more crossbench MPs to pass its agenda.
Reason Party leader Fiona Patten conceded on Monday, expecting her position in the Northern Metropolitan region to be taken by ousted Labor MP Adem Somyurek, who moved to the Democratic Labour Party after The Age reported on allegations of his links to branch stacking.
The Greens party was looking to boost its representation from one MP – leader Samantha Ratnam – to three or four seats, as a serious contender in the Southern Metro, North-Eastern Metropolitan and Western Victoria regions.
Legalise Cannabis was also hopeful of picking up two or three seats, the South-Eastern Metropolitan, Western Metro and perhaps the Western Victoria regions.
The Liberal Democrats appeared set to go backwards while Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party, Transport Matters and Sustainable Australia looked like they’d be wiped out of the parliament completely. Catherine Cumming, elected with Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party but sat as an independent before joining Angry Victorians is also expected to exit parliament.
The Animal Justice Party looks to have lost Andy Meddick but gained Georgie Purcell in the Northern Victoria region, where One Nation is also in with a chance of winning its first seat with Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell.
More to come.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.
Most Viewed in Politics
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article