THE Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party could lose its upper house seat for Northern Victoria despite the party increasing its primary vote by at least 4 per cent in the region.
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Daniel Young, who won one of the five seats in 2014 with 3.5 per cent of the vote, said he was “still hopeful” of keeping his seat despite preferences flowing heavily towards the Liberal Democrats and Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party.
Mr Young achieved over 8 per cent of the vote in Northern Victoria as counting continues following the election on the weekend – behind only Labor and the Coalition, and ahead of the Greens.
But Liberal Democrats candidate Tim Quilty, a Wodonga councillor, had benefited from preferences from a range of parties, including Labor, and was likely to win one of the seats.
In a social media post, Mr Young said his primary vote was a “monster effort”.
“I am very proud to be sitting on the highest primary vote for any of the minor parties in any upper house region,” he said.
“Please be patient. But please also know that whatever the result, I will not be going away.”
The Nationals are also facing a risk of not winning a seat in the upper house in Northern Victoria after the Coalition’s primary vote fell over 8 per cent. Luke O’Sullivan MLC, who has an office in Bendigo, is in a battle to hold his seat.
The Greens’ hopes of securing its first seat in country Victoria were dashed, with candidate Nicole Rowan conceding the party had missed out after a swing against it of about 1 per cent – below the statewide swing against the party.
She said the margin of Labor’s victory meant Premier Daniel Andrews not have to “be safe” and could take more decisive action on issues such as climate change.
Ms Rowan said more progressive voters had chosen Labor over the Greens in order to keep the Coalition out of government.
“In landslide victories such as this for Labor, it’s not unusual to see that kind of swing against minor parties,” she said.
Ms Rowan said the upper house voting system needed to be reformed and she had sympathy for Mr Young.
Labor is likely to win two of the Northern Victoria seats with Mark Gepp and Jaclyn Symes, and the Liberals one with Wendy Lovell.
The outcome is unlikely to be known until December 11.
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