MINOR parties have been the big winners in the upper house region of Northern Victoria, with two tipped to snatch seats from Labor and the Coalition.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
While the results had not been finalised, it was yesterday tipped the Shooters and Fishers Party’s Daniel Young and Australian Country Alliance’s Robert Danieli would take the fourth and fifth seats after earning just 3.41 and 2.7 per cent respectively of the first preference vote.
Projections expected those figures to increase to 18 and 23 per cent of the vote once preferences were distributed.
SFP collected preferences from the Coalition and Palmer United, while ACA had a swathe of preferences from the conservative bloc including Family First and Rise Up Australia and, more consequentially, the Labor Party.
Labor appeared to preference ACA in return for ACA preferences in some key lower house seats, a claim ACA denied.
Yesterday Mr Danieli said while he was not yet claiming victory it was “certainly looking positive”.
He dismissed criticisms that the voting system allowed minor parties to potentially take control of the upper house with tiny first preference tallys.
“I think the only people who want to change it want a protection racket,” he said.
“How else do smaller parties actually get a chance to influence politics?”
Liberal Wendy Lovell, Labor’s Steve Herbert and The Nationals’ Damien Drum will take the remaining seats.
ELECTION NEWS:
