By Fatima Halloum
Labor will hold onto its seats in Wyndham despite swings towards the Liberal Party in the municipality’s four electorates.
As of Monday afternoon, there was a 5.5 per cent swing towards the Liberals in Tarneit, 5 per cent in Laverton and 3.2 per cent in Point Cook.
With 70.6 per cent of votes counted, Werribee recorded a 1.7 per cent swing towards the Labor party.
Werribee Labor MP Tim Pallas defeated 15 candidates vying for the seat, securing 14,792 first preference votes (45.4 per cent).
“It’s a true honour to be re-elected as your local member, and I look forward to representing you in the Parliament of Victoria for another term,” Mr Pallas said.
“Your decision in this election will ensure that we keep doing what matters for this wonderful community.”
Liberal candidate Mia Shaw received 8433 first preference votes (23.9 per cent) and Greens candidate Jack Boddeke obtained 2114 (six per cent).
The new seat of Laverton will be represented by former Tarneit MP Sarah Connolly, who shifted electorates this election following the 2020-21 redistribution of state electoral boundaries.
On a two-party-preferred basis, Ms Connolly secured 15,530 votes (68.4 per cent) while Liberal candidate Raja Reddy amassed 7166 votes, (31.43 per cent) at 50.5 per cent of votes counted.
“To everyone who voted for me, and those that did not, I won’t let you down,” Ms Connolly wrote on social media.
In Tarneit, with 70 per cent votes counted, Labor’s Dylan Wright amassed 20,026 (62.3 per cent) of first preference votes, while Liberal candidate Preet Singh received 12,104 votes (37.6 per cent).
The seat of Point Cook will be represented by Mathew Hilakari, who with 68 per cent of votes counted, obtained 12,657 votes (40.59 per cent).
“Thank you to all the volunteers, friends, family and comrades and to everyone who donated their time to make sure that Labor is successful in Point Cook,” he said on Facebook.
“I’ll work hard to make sure our community gets the infrastructure and support that will make our community even better, and I’ll work hard for everyone across Point Cook.”
Liberal candidate Angela Newhouse received 7705 votes (24.7 per cent).
