Sandbelt sees red in Labor landslide Continued from Page 1 The result in Frankston was one of many easy wins that were expected to be close. Labor are expected to pick up roughly 60 of 88 seats in the lower house and comfortably form a majority government. Mr Edbrooke defeated Frankston policeman Michael Lamb on a two party preferred basis. Mr Lamb’s campaign focused heavily on law and order, with his biggest funding commitment being a $225 million pledge to team with the federal government to electrify and duplicate the Frankston line to Baxter. Council also praised Mr Lamb for making financial commitments to four of their major projects, the rail extension, Jubilee Park, Centenary Park, and the Oliver’s Hill breakwater. The state Labor party is the only major party at both state or federal levels to have not yet made a commitment to extending the Frankston line. Although some doubt currently surrounds the project, state Labor expect a business case outlining the costs to be completed in early 2019. Mr Lamb’s final week campaigning was marred by an awkward interview with Sky News host David Speers, which was viewed almost half a million times across social media. The Labor swing may also be a worrying sign for the federal Liberals as well, who face a tough fight to hold the seat of Dunkley after redistribution made it notionally Labor. The traditionally marginal state seats along the “sandbelt” in Mordialloc, and Carrum have also seen
All smiles: Paul Edbrooke MP had plenty to be happy about after Labor claimed big wins across the ‘sandbelt’. Picture: Gary Sissons
huge swings towards the Victorian Labor party. Mordialloc and Carrum were both won by Labor at the 2014 election in extremely tight races. A massive 11.7 percent swing towards the Labor Party saw the difference between Labor and Liberal in Carrum widen to 24.8 percent at the close of counting on election night. With a swing of more than 10 percent needed to change the result, Sonya Kikenny MP will be consid-
ered sitting in a safe seat going into the next election. Mordialloc will also become a safe Labor seat, after Labor MP Tim Richardson consolidated his position with a big win over Kingston councillor and Liberal candidate Geoff Gledhill. With 77.3 percent of the vote counted from this weekend, Mr Richardson had widened that gap from 4.2 percent in 2014 to 29.5 percent on a two party preferred
basis. Shock results also occured south of the sandbelt, where three safe Liberal seats on the Mornington Peninsula face strong surprise challenges from the Labor party. Labor candidate Chris Brayne holds a narrow lead over Liberal candidate Russell Joseph in the safe Liberal seat of Nepean, and could be set to claim a shock win.
Late Labor push sees cash pumped into Frankston LABOR announced a flurry of funding in the final days of election campaigning for the Frankston electorate. The re-elected state government announced that Frankston would share in $62.4 million in funding that will go towards construction of emergency departments for children. The funding for a new children’s emergency department at Frankston Hospital would be funded outside of the already pledged $562 million announced earlier in the election campaign. Premier Daniel Andrews said “as a parent, I know there’s nothing more terrifying than when your child gets sick. Our hospitals do a great job, but tailored emergency departments will make sure kids get the best care. We’ll make sure kids get the quick, dedicated care they need so that they, and their parents, feel better, sooner.” It was later announced that Frankston TAFE would receive a big state government cash injection for the redevelopment of their learning facilities. The state government announced they would put $67.6 million into training facilities for “multimedia, arts, tourism and hospitality” at the school. “People in Frankston deserve the best training facilities and that’s exactly what this project will deliver,” Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke said. The funding was part of a final push that saw Labor easily retain the seat of Frankston, with sitting MP Paul Edbrooke edging out Frankston police officer Michael Lamb.
Frankston Times
27 November 2018
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