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LISA Chesters has been re-elected as the member for Bendigo with, before postal votes are counted, a margin of 3.84 per cent and a swing of 2.58.
So what areas gave Labor their biggest boost?
On the back of Greens preferences, the five booths in the Castlemaine area were among the strongest for the left-leaning parties:
Castlemaine North
Votes: 1610
Result: Labor 38.4%, Greens 29.8%, Liberal 23.3%
Two party preferred: Labor: 71.95%
Castlemaine
Votes: 1434
Result: Labor 38.04%, Liberal 26.9%, Greens 26.6%
2PP: Labor 68%
Campbells Creek
Votes: 1161
Result: Labor 42.03%, Liberal 29.5%, Greens 18.3%
2PP: Labor 65%
Chewton
Votes: 653
Result: Labor 42.7%, Greens 24.7%, Liberal 22.5%
2PP: Labor 72.4%
Winters Flat
Votes: 797
Result: Labor 37%, Greens 29.7%, Liberal 24.9%
2PP: Labor 69.5%
The Bendigo suburbs also turned out strongly for Labor, and had booths with big numbers of voters including the Eaglehawk booths, Kangaroo Flat, California Gully and Bendigo central, on Myers Street.
Labor’s result was on the back of its own vote, without the need for Greens preferences:
Eaglehawk North
Votes: 655
Result: Labor 49.6%, Liberal 27%, Greens 8.3%
2PP: Labor 63.7%
Eaglehawk
Votes: 1450
Result: Labor 46.8%, Liberal 30.3%, Greens 7%
2PP: Labor 59.6%
Kangaroo Flat
Votes: 2137
Result: Labor 47.7%, Liberal 30.8%, Greens 5.6%
2PP: Labor 60.8%
Kangaroo Flat South
Votes: 1966
Result: Labor 43%, Liberal 35.6%, Greens 8%
2PP: Labor 57.1%
Golden Square
Votes: 2511
Result: Labor 43.4%, Liberal 32.7%, Greens 9.3%
2PP: Labor 58.1%
California Gully
Votes: 779
Result: Labor 47.1%, Liberal 28.3%, Greens 8.6%
2PP: Labor 63.5%
Long Gully
Votes: 849
Result: Labor 52.6%, Liberal 23.6%, Greens 7.5%
2PP: Labor 67.1%
Bendigo Central (Myers Street)
Votes: 1596
Result: Labor 42%, Liberal 30.6%, Greens 13.6%
2PP: Labor 60.7%
The Liberal Party earned a number of booths – most of which were already Liberal strongholds at the last election. Some were large, like Maiden Gully and Strathfieldsaye, while others were in smaller rural areas:
Junortoun
Votes: 953
Result: Liberal 53.4%, Labor 29.2% Greens 5.6%
2PP: Liberal 62%
Strathdale
Votes: 1749
Result: Liberal 47.6%, Labor 31.8%, Greens 8.9%
2PP: Liberal 56%
Strathfieldsaye
Votes: 2199
Result: Liberal 48.3%, Labor 32.5%, Greens 8.2%
2PP: Liberal 56%
Maiden Gully
Votes: 1849
Result: Liberal 45.6%, Labor 35.3%, Greens 5.6%
2PP: Liberal 55%
Elmore
Votes: 412
Result: Liberal 48.8%, Labor 26.9%, Nationals 15.5%
2PP; Liberal 66.7%
Mandurang
Votes: 554
Result: Liberal 47.2%, Labor 28.4%, Greens 14.9%
2PP: Liberal 57.3%
A number of other small towns like Redesdale, Tylden, Newham, Lockwood, Goornong, Eppalock and Axedale also backed the Liberals – towns where the CFA dispute was likely to have the most impact.
For the Liberals, these booths were quite small and were unable to negate the losses in larger suburban booths.
Those results in Kangaroo Flat, Eaglehawk, Golden Square and Castlemaine will be a concern for the Liberal Party for years to come, and require significant swings at future elections for Bendigo to ever fall from Labor hands.