By Jesse Graham and Kath Gannaway
TONY Smith looks set to be re-elected to the seat of Casey, with the national result of the federal election still too close to call.
As of 10.30am on Sunday, 3 July, Mr Smith had 55.3 per cent of the vote after preferences, with Labor’s candidate Hovig Melkonian receiving 44.7 per cent, with 77.4 per cent of votes counted. Just under 8000 votes separate the two candidates.
In La Trobe, Jason Wood is narrowly ahead with 50.9 per cent against Labor’s Simon Curtis, with 76.1 per cent of the votes counted.
Federally, the election result is still too close to call, with uncertainty about which party will come out on top – the ABC reports that the ALP is ahead with 67 seats, while the LNP holds 65; five seats have been won by the Greens, independents and minor parties, and the remaining 13 seats in doubt.
It is predicted that Casey and La Trobe will stay in the hands of the Liberal Party, though only 1300 votes separate Mr Wood and Mr Curtis, and many have yet to be counted.
The AEC announced it would be spending Sunday sorting absent, interstate, postal and other votes to be packaged and sent to their home division, with counting to resume on Tuesday.
If the Coalition wins nationally, Liberal-pledged CCTV cameras will be funded for Yarra Glen, Woori Yallock, Mount Evelyn and Monbulk in Casey, and in Belgrave in La Trobe.
Sporting clubs could also benefit, with hundreds of thousands in funding pledged by Mr Smith for netball lighting and court resurfacing in Montrose, Healesville and Coldstream.
Regardless of the winner, new phone towers will be built in Chum Creek, Reefton, Kalorama in Mount Evelyn, with both parties pledging support for addressing mobile phone black spots.
Monbulk Recreation Reserve would receive $600,000 from the Coalition or $750,000 from Labor, adding funding towards a $2.5 million upgrade for the area to build upgraded changerooms, a gym and canteen, among other improvements.
If Labor wins, the Eastern Legal Community Centre will receive $450,000 in funding over three years, as part of a $43 million initiative for legal services working with family violence survivors.
Community groups across the Casey electorate yesterday used the election as a chance to fundraise for different projects, running sausage sizzles and cake stalls at polling places from opening at 8am into the afternoon.
At the Healesville High School polling place, the Support the Healesville Indoor Pool (SHIP) group held a barbecue, a cake stall and a garage sale to raise money for repairs at the pool.
At Badger Creek Primary School, Badger Creek CFA sold sausages to raise money for the school and the brigade; while the Rotary Club of Healesville ran a barbecue at the Healesville Senior Citizens Centre to raise money for its Milking Cow and Goat Project in Kenya.
In Launching Place, first-time voter Aylah Hannon said she had asked her mum for advice on who she should vote for.
“I look up to my mum and she is someone who I believe would want what’s best for my country,” she said.
At polling places on both sides of the Yarra Valley, there were a high number of people not taking how-to-vote fliers.
CFA volunteers from the Maroondah Group staged a protest against the recent enterprise bargaining agreement that is being disputed between volunteers, the Victorian Government and the United Firefighters Union.
Brigades from Healesville, Yarra Glen, Mount Evelyn, Lilydale and Warrandyte drove from Warrandyte from 9am to Healesville in the early afternoon.
Passing drivers honked their horns in support as the convoy made its way through town, with about 14 trucks taking part.
Despite the large turnout from firefighters, Yarra Glen CFA captain Bill Boyd said that stations around the area were still manned in case of emergency.
Earlier in the day, Mr Melkonian said that he felt the seat had been forgotten, as it was a safely-held Liberal seat.
However, he said the Yarra Valley would benefit from the seat being more marginal.
Mr Smith told the Mail on Sunday morning that he was “humbled” by the result from the campaign, and expected his numbers to be strengthened by postal votes during the week.
“I’d like to thank the local community for their continuing support and faith in me,” he said.
“It’s hard to speculate when you’re the candidate, but what I would say is that I worked very hard to articulate the national plan, as well as a very considered and fully-funded local plan, and that will deliver benefits directly to our local community.
“And I think that, now we’ve got to the end of the campaign, when you look at the policy pledges I made, they were certainly more comprehensive than any of the other candidates, in terms of putting forward a local plan.”
He said the national result was “very close”, but that he concurred with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who said in a late-night speech on Saturday that he believed the Coalition would win enough seats to form government.
Mr Smith said he would visit campaign volunteers on Sunday to personally thank them for their efforts.
Mr Melkonian has been contacted for comment.
