RHETT BURNIE
LABOR’S 11-year stranglehold on the Seymour electorate has ended, with the Liberal Party’s Cindy McLeish toppling Ben Hardman at the weekend’s state election.
Ms McLeish snatched the seat from Mr Hardman in an unprecedented 10.1 percent swing against the three-time election winner.
The former Yea resident’s victory followed a statewide backlash against Labor, with a swing of more than six per cent that will almost certainly bring the Coalition to power.
Speaking to The North Central Review yesterday, Ms McLeish said she was thrilled with the result.
“It’s not all official as yet but I’m very excited,” she said.
“We’ve campaigned really hard.”
Ms McLeish - who had just three weeks to campaign after replacing Mike Laker as the Liberal candidate when he stood down in late October – said she had a lot of support.
“I have had the most amazing, amazing group of volunteers working to help me,” she said.
Ms McLeish said she is looking forward to serving as an MP and believed she and her family are ready for life in the political spotlight.
“I like to think I am and I like to think that we are, as a family,” she said.
Infrastructure improvements, the continuation of bushfire recovery and revitalisation of local businesses are high on her list of priorities for the area, Ms McLeish said.
She said she was also looking forward to “getting the electorate back on the map.”
And as for the controversial North South Pipeline, Ms McLeish said the Coalition would uphold their commitment to turn the pipeline off.
“As Ted (Baillieu) said a few days ago, under the Coalition you’ve got more chance of white elephants coming through the pipeline than water,” she said.
Construction of a $130 million bypass of Kilmore and Wallan also high on her agenda, she said.
Ms McLeish said she and her family would soon relocate to Yea, making the family farm their ‘base residence.’
She said she was unsure whereabouts in the electorate her office would be located.
Meanwhile, a nostalgic Ben Hardman said he had spent the past two days reflecting on the Labor Party’s achievements for the region.
“I’ve just been in a reflective mood,” he said.
“I think we achieved a lot, we actually really built a lot of facilities and infrastructure,” he said.
He named the construction of a police station in Wallan and improvements to public transport services in the area as some of his proudest achievements.
Mr Hardman was first voted into Parliament in 1999 and won three state elections.
He said the Labor Party’s decision not to support a bypass of Kilmore and Wallan, coupled with the construction of the unpopular North South Pipeline, had ‘definitely’ cost him votes.
“That’s what people feel they need and they have voted that way,” he said.
Given another chance, Mr Hardman said he wouldn’t have done anything differently.
“I wanted to be up front with the people about what I could and couldn’t get for them and I did that,” he said.
He said the electorate was a “microburst of a number of the issues affecting the state.”
Mr Hardman said he was thankful for the opportunity to serve as MP for Seymour.
“It’s been a real privilege and honour,” he said.
“I wish everyone all the best for the future.”
Yesterday, the Victorian Electoral Commission’s virtual tally room showed Mr Hardman as having taken 35.03 per cent of votes for the electorate, while Ms McLeish sat at 36.27 per cent.
Five other candidates stood for Seymour with Independent Jan Beer pulling in a massive 10.19 per cent of the total votes counted.
The Greens’ Huw Slater closely followed Mrs Beer, capturing 8.27 per cent of votes while Country Alliance’s Adam Taurian secured 4.47 per cent of the vote.
The Nationals’ candidate, Anthony Rolando, grabbed an even four per cent, while Family First’s Robert Guerra made up just 1.77 per cent of the votes.
