By JESSE GRAHAM
THE VOTES are in and Eildon’s election has been called.
At 4pm on Tuesday 9 December, Liberal candidate Cindy McLeish was officially announced as the winner of the seat of Eildon for the Victorian State Election.
Receiving 51.7 per cent of the total votes after preferences, Ms McLeish beat Labor candidate Sally Brennan by 1257 votes, after months of heavy campaigning from both sides.
The result was announced at the Eildon District Election Office in Woori Yallock by Election manager Peter Williams on behalf of the Victorian Electoral Commission.
Ms McLeish said it was a “privilege and a pleasure” to be elected as the first member for Eildon as well as being the last sitting member for the abolished seat of Seymour.
Reiterating her comments after Election Day on 29 November when she had a sizable lead and was the predicted-winner, she said her victory was “bitter-sweet”, as Labor’s state-wide victory makes her an opposition member.
“To win this is terrific, but to lose government, I find it quite sad.”
Under the Labor Government, Yarra Junction Primary School will receive $2 million for repairs for damaged and condemned buildings.
Though Ms McLeish won Eildon, a large number of Liberal promises cannot be implemented.
Ms Brennan offered strong competition throughout the campaign, and voters along the Warburton Highway voted in large numbers for Labor, with Launching Place, Millgrove, Warburton, Warburton East, Wesburn and Yarra Junction recording more votes for Ms Brennan than Ms McLeish.
But the Liberals seemed to be the favourite at almost every other booth, with the Nationals only winning one other in Gladysdale.
Healesville’s two booths, Mansfield and Yarra Glen had the highest voter turnouts, with 3213, 2328 and 1530 votes recorded in each area – the Liberals scored the most votes at each of these booths.
Incorrect votes were also seen in high amounts in Eildon, with 5.23 per cent of the total votes – 2042 ballot papers – declared informal.
The result may well have gone Ms Brennan’s way if a majority of those informal votes were filled out properly in favour of the ALP candidate.
Ms Brennan told the Mail shortly after Election Day that she had conceded the race, but that she was pleased with the state-wide result for her party.
“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,” she said.
She said that Labor would have a strong chance at gaining the seat at the 2018 Victorian election.
“I think whoever does run in the next election will have a very real chance of winning it,” she said.
Ms McLeish said that she would advocate for the electorate over the next four years of government and put pressure on the Labor Government to fund projects that the Coalition pledged funding for.
“I think it’s my job to speak up for schools that didn’t get funding, the CFA and all of those things,” Ms McLeish said.
She added that Labor’s lack of a majority in the Senate would be a check against the new government’s power in the lower house.
“That will allow us to put pressure on them and to keep them honest,” she said.
Ms McLeish said that her attention was now focused on setting up her former-Seymour office for the time being, after packing up post-election only to find that a site in Eildon had yet to be confirmed.
She said that being based in Seymour would be a “pain”, as it is based well out of the electorate, but that the government was organising a suitable site within the electorate.For more details on Eildon’s election results, visit www.vec.vic.gov.au.
