Druery said counting for the upper house was at an early stage and expected to have more candidates elected,but said the major parties had been more wary of him at this election.
“It’s not over by a long shot yet,” Druery said. “The numbers are still moving around a lot,and we may not see a final result for two weeks.”
Druery said he was glad to have kept out the “nincompoops” from the Freedom Party,whichcreated its own bloc of right-wing parties,and said he would keep trying to get everyday people elected to parliament to boost diversity.
Psephologist Kevin Bonham cautioned it was still very early in the count and said only broad observations could be made about the possible makeup of the upper house in Victoria’s 60th parliament.
“One[observation] is that at this stage,the micro parties that are well-placed are mostly the left[leaning] ones,” Bonham said.
Bonham still expected candidates with minuscule support,but said:“I think this is looking like there won’t be as many outrageous results as last time.”
One Nation candidate Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell was in a strong position in her bid for a seat in the Northern Victoria region.
Renee Heath,a lifelong senior member of an ultra-conservative church,is expected to win a spot in parliament for the Liberal Party. But Matthew Guy,who on Sunday announced he would step down as party leader,earlier this month said Heathwould not sit in parliamentary party room if elected after her family claimed she was an “agent” of the church,which was revealed in an investigation byThe Age.
Victoria is the only jurisdiction in Australia thatstill uses the group voting system,which allows micro parties with less than 1 per cent of the vote to leapfrog more popular candidates by pooling preferences among one another in secret backroom deals.
The system,which affects votes cast above the line on the ballot paper for the upper house,in 2018 elected candidates with as little as 0.6 per cent of the vote.
Hinch’s Justice Party could lose all of its three upper house positions,but Stuart Grimley on Sunday still had a chance of retaining his seat.
“My political career is over. I know I’ve lost,to be honest,” Hinch toldThe Age. “I know I’m gone,that’s the end of my political career,but that’s life,as someone once said. The tribe has spoken.”
Hinch said it appeared Druery’s influence in Victorian politics could also be over.
Catherine Cumming from the Angry Victorians party,who sat in parliament as an independent last term and was this month criticised for publicly stating Premier Daniel Andrews should be turned into a“red mist”,was also unlikely to retain a seat.
Cumming’s micro party met with Druery and leaked damaging footage against him. Druery denies he formally worked with Angry Victorians and said he was betrayed.
Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam on Sunday said her party was in a “powerful position” to achieve reform and celebrated the chance of a progressive upper house.
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“The count is early ... It’s looking like there are a few progressive parties,along with the Greens,who have a stronger chance of making up that crossbench. That is really welcome news,” Ratnam said.
Craig Ellis,the secretary of Legalise Cannabis,said it was also looking promising for the micro party.
“I’ve done this thing a few times,so I know you’ve got to wait.”
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