Once again, a big "thank you" to all those who helped during our campaign for Melbourne, and all those who voted Green.
As at Wednesday 1 December, I have received slightly more than 31% of the votes in the seat of Melbourne. This is the highest Green vote of any seat in Victoria and is a swing of around +3.8% - very strong considering the big swing to the conservatives across the State.
Even with the Liberals supporting Labor, the seat remains a Green/Labor one, with the margin now over 7%.
You can check the latest count here.
Please note that there are still many postal, absentee and early polling centre votes to count so these numbers are not yet final.
The decision by the Liberal party to direct preferences to Labor ahead of the Greens resulted in Liberal preferences re-electing Labor's Bronwyn Pike.
For many, this election was about preferences, hung parliaments, and fear. For us, it was about principles, policies and inspiration.
Looking back at this experience, the journey was well worth it. I would always have regretted it if I had not stood, and I learnt so much along the way, and gained so much from the many people I met.
Let's hope we'll be able to surmount the larger hurdle of overcoming the combined Liberal/Labor vote next time, and here's to the promotion of Green values.
Here is my speech on election night.
Well done Brian. I'm proud to live in the seat of Melbourne and to have met you. You continued your campaign without resorting to negativity or dirty tricks and gave a lot of people a lot to think about. I hope we see you 'out there' again.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Kath!
ReplyDeleteAnd for those who are interested, I just checked the VEC website again. The 2PP margin is now less than 6% and narrowing.
Your campaign was all about issues that matter, local community engagement & accountability, realistic solutions and honourable principles. A fine example of the kind of people who are attracted to the Greens and what the party stands for.
ReplyDeleteIf winning is less important than how you play the game - then Brian, you have definitely won!