The election is
over, petrol prices rose despite the Coalition’s pledge to dump the
carbon tax, and it was business as usual for returned federal Labor MP
Maria Vamvakinou back in Broadmeadows last week.
“I am very pleased the people in Calwell stayed loyal and voted Labor,” Ms
Vamvakinou said, adding she believed the party would have
suffered even greater defeats around the nation had it not been for the
campaign run by outgoing Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Echoing Mr Rudd ally Victorian Senator Kim Carr, Ms
Vamvakinou said she believed voters remained angry about Labor’s
internal arguing and displays of disloyalty from the moment Mr Rudd was
first ousted and Julia Gillard put in the top job in 2010.
In McEwen,
Rob Mitchell’s result teetered on a knife’s edge well into the week as
Liberal Donna Petrovich swung up, strongest where the Sunbury out of Hume issue highlighted the value of local campaigning even in the federal sphere.
In Scullin, retiring Labor MP Harry Jenkins follows
in his father’s footsteps, moving over after 27 years for another Labor
man, Andrew Giles, who won the seat despite an 8 per cent swing against the party.
