Olivia Condous
Labor’s Sam Rae will be the MP for the newly created seat of Hawke despite a sizeable protest vote for the minor parties and independents.
Hawke, which covers the west of the Melton municipality and the majority of the Moorabool Shire, was established after an electoral distribution and is considered a notionally safe Labor seat.
With the votes counted for Hawke, Mr Rae won out over the Liberal Party’s Enamul Haque, with 57 per cent to 43 per cent on the two-party preferred count.
That represented a notional swing of 2.8 per cent against Labor, with the party polling 33 per cent primary vote.
The Liberals garnered 27 per cent of the first preference vote, ahead of the Greens’ Lynda Wheelock and independent James Bingham, who both won 8 per cent.
Despite leader Craig Kelly visiting the electorate, the United Australia Party’s Andrew Cuthbertson claimed only 7 per cent of first preferences, followed by Nick Suduk of One Nation on 5 per cent.
Mr Rae is a former state secretary of the Victorian Labor Party who was working at PricewaterhouseCoopers before winning preselection in Hawke.
Labor promised $86,000 in funding for upgrades to a Sikh community hall in Plumpton, a $39,000 outdoor learning space for Melton Primary School, as well as $400,000 for Federation Park in Darley.
It will also put $10 million towards planning work to upgrade the Western Highway.
In a post on social media, Mr Rae said being elected for Hawke as a “privilege”.
“Our work starts today to deliver a better future here in Hawke, one where we look after our community and deliver the social services and infrastructure we deserve.”
In the seat of Gorton, Brendan O’Connor was elected for his seventh term in parliament, winning 65 per cent on the two-party preferred count.
Mr O’Connor said he was excited to be a part of a team that will deliver a series of significant reforms that will change the country.
“Labor will take real climate change and adopt the carbon neutral target of zero net emissions by the year 2050, and enshrine this target in legislation,” he said.
“Labor will introduce a national anti-corruption body, and we will legislate by the end of the year.”
