By Vanessa Chircop
VICTORY celebrations for Labor’s Jill Hennessy and Wade Noonan were put on ice following Saturday’s cliffhanger State Election.
While the overall result remained unclear when Star went to press, both Mr Noonan and Ms Hennessy recorded large swings against them.
Mr Noonan, the Member for Williamstown, described his win as a “bitter sweet” victory with the “ultimate result still hanging in the balance”.
“I’d love to be waking up to say that we have another chance to govern for four years,” Mr Noonan said.
“In relation to the Williamstown seat I feel a real honour in terms of being re-elected – we’ve had some wonderful MPs in Williamstown and to follow in their footsteps is an honour.”
Labor retained the seat with 62.4 per cent of the vote but despite the win there was an 11.9 per cent swing towards the Liberals.
Mr Noonan said the swing didn’t surprise him due to his relatively low profile in comparison to his predecessor.
“Steve Bracks was the member in 2006 and had a high profile as member and Premier for seven years – I’ve had to work hard to increase my profile,” he said.
Liberal candidate David McConnell told Star despite not winning the seat in Williamstown he was happy with his results.
“I did extremely well thanks to the voters of Williamstown at the moment it looks like I have a 12 per cent swing which is unheard of in Williamstown,” Mr McConnell said.
“It’s sending a message to Labor that things are changing in Williamtown.”
Mr McConnell said he was fairly confident that Liberals would win the State Election.
“Historically pre-polls and postal votes tend to favour the coalition so yes I would say we will win.”
Mr Noonan said he would be concerned for the West if the Liberals gained office.
“If we are indeed in Opposition I really fear for the western region in Melbourne,” he said.
“I’d be very concerned if the Liberal/National Coalition will invest money in the western region of Melbourne.”
Mr Noonan said the next four years will be a challenge for both parties.
“If you have a parliament where you have one party or another governing by just a handfull of seats everyone is going to have to work really hard,” he said.
“I’ve never been opposed to hard work and I have no fear stepping into parliament and giving it a red hot go.”
Member for Altona Jill Hennessy retained the seat with 62.1 per cent of the vote, but recorded an 8.1 per cent swing to the Liberals.
Ms Hennessy told Star that it had been a long day of campaigning and on arrival to her election after-party all she wanted to do was see her children.
At the by-election Ms Hennessy’s win was shaken by a 12.5 per cent swing to Liberal.
She said despite not knowing who will govern Victoria she thought it was important to celebrate what is known.
Despite her win she told her supporters to prepare themselves for a negative outcome.
“I would not be honest if I didn’t say to you that it might be that we spend the next four years of our life fighting against conservative political forces,” she said.
