A RE-ELECTED Peter Walsh will join an opposition government when parliament resumes, after Labor claimed victory in Saturday’s election.
Mr Walsh retained his position in the Nationals heartland of Murray Plains by a large margin — although the gap has closed on previous years.
Yesterday afternoon (Sunday November 30), the count cast 64.3 per cent of the first preference vote to the Nationals representative in 2014 — down from 75.04 per cent in Swan Hill 2010.
Meanwhile, Labor proved marginally more popular in the new electorate than expected.
On a two party preferred basis, ALP candidate Peter Williams received 26.07 per cent, exceeding the estimated 19.8 per cent.
The electorate, which covers more than 10,000 sq km, underwent a name change from Swan Hill earlier this year following the redistribution of boundaries to take in Echuca, Cohuna and Rochester.
The win will see Mr Walsh add four additional years to his 12 years on Spring Street and his third term of office in opposition.
He said although the overall result was “disappointing” from a party point of view, it was “an honour and privilege to be elected as the first Member for Murray Plains”.
For more on this story, pick up a copy of Monday’s Guardian (December 1).
