Labor Member for Bendigo, Lisa Chesters, says she’s been incredibly humbled to be re-elected to the seat.
In a two-candidate preferred count, Ms. Chesters received 51.4 per cent of the vote, with the Nationals’ Andrew Lethlean receiving 48.6 per cent.
In the former safe Labor seat, the AEC recorded a margin of just over 2,900 votes.
Speaking to The Wake-Up Call with Robbo, Ms. Chesters says the election saw a Trump-style of politics, which played out a culture war across the electorate.
“Now that those outsiders have left town, it’s part of my job and all of us to find the common ground again, be positive and bring people back together,” she said.
Mr. Lethlean believes the results were due to the community speaking and making sure the region got a fair share.
“While it was satisfying that we had the biggest swing [against Labor in the country], I guess we were swimming upstream a little bit against the whitewash of the Liberals against Labor in the final result, but it was still disappointing to miss out,” he said.
