Cade Lucas
From fighting a grass fire at 3am to being elected to state parliament by just after 1pm, Friday was a big day for new Labor MP for Werribee, John Lister.
The local school teacher and CFA member claimed victory after vote counting on Friday morning showed him building a narrow but unassailable lead over Liberal Party challenger Steve Murphy.
Despite receiving less first primary votes than Mr Murphy, preference flows continued to favour Mr Lister, pushing his lead out to almost 600 votes after preferences.
It meant the government was able to retain the outer western suburbs seat vacated by retired treasurer Tim Pallas, despite suffering a swing of more than 10 per cent against it.
Just hours after helping put out a grass fire near Wyndham Vale, Mr Lister was joined at a park in central Werribee by Major Projects Minister, Garbriel Williams, to declare victory.
“These are my neighbours, my friends, people I’ve worked with. This is my community,” said Mr Lister of his new constituents in Werribee, many of whom turned away from the Labor Party at last Saturday’s by-election.
“We’ve heard the message from voters. We need more,” he said of how he intended to win them back, nominating cost of living, transport and crime as his immediate priorities.
Despite being elected as a member of parliament, Mr Lister said his initial approach to the job would be a continuation of his campaign
“I’m gonna do exactly what I’ve been doing for the last six or seven weeks which is getting out every day,” said Mr Lister who claims to have knocked on 20,000 doors in the lead up to last Saturday’s by-election.
“It starts from tomorrow. I’ll be at some of the mosques for mosque open day, I’ll be meeting with constituents who’ve emailed me. On Monday I’ll be running a constituency cafe.”
Ms Williams said her new colleague had already started advocating for his constituents before the result was even declared.
“The count hasn’t stopped him from advocating for his community and there are a number of ministers who can attest to that.”
While Werribee is now his focus, Mr Lister said he’d remain a CFA member too.
“We still need to get trucks out the door.”
