Voters in Brimbank overwhelmingly backed Labor on Saturday night and helped return Anthony Albanese as prime minister.
In the electorates of Gorton and Fraser, Labor’s candidates Alice Jordan-Baird and Daniel Mulino secured 43.94 per cent and 42.85 per cent of the primary votes respectively. Those figures represent a first preference swing of 2.63 per cent and 0.76 per cent towards Labor.
Dr Mulino has represented Fraser since 2019 while Ms Jordan-Baird was selected as Labor’s candidate for Gorton following the retirement of long-serving MP Brendan O’Connor.
On Sunday night, the Australia Electoral Commission (AEC) said Ms Jordan-Baird would be the new MP for Gorton.
AEC data showed that Ms Jordan-Baird had secured 60.40 per cent of votes on a two-party basis, over Liberal candidate John Fletcher.
In Fraser, the AEC was projecting that Dr Mulino would retain the seat. As of Sunday night, Dr Mulino was ahead in the two-party count, with 60.87 per cent of votes.
The AEC conducted the two-party count for Fraser between Labor and the Greens after its candidate Huong Truong polled 7695 more first preference votes than Liberal candidate Satish Patel.
Ms Jordan-Baird took to social media on Sunday to thank voters for putting their faith in her.
“I am incredibly honoured and humbled to have been elected to represent the seat of Gorton,” she said.
“Thank you to every single volunteer who gave their time, energy and heart to this campaign – I couldn’t have done it without you.
“I’m ready to get to work with the Labor team to deliver for our community – for families, for workers, for everyone. Let’s keep building a better future, together.”
On Facebook, Dr Mulino simply wrote: “Thank you, Fraser. It is a privilege to continue representing you”.
While most of Brimbank falls into Fraser or Gorton, parts of Keilor Park and Tullamarine are in the electorate of Maribyrnong.
Labor’s Bill Shorten retired as Maribyrnong MP in January, having represented the seat since 2007.
Labor has held the seat since it was created in 1969, with that trend continuing on Saturday night.
Labor candidate Jo Briskey won the seat with 62.38 per cent of votes on a two-party basis, over Liberal candidate Tim Beddoe.
On Facebook, Ms Briskey thanked voters for putting their trust in her.
