BARELY two days after her decisive victory, Ballarat MP Catherine King is already back at work.
Ms King was easily re-elected for her fourth term on Saturday. But her win was tempered with the reality of Labor losing at least 12 seats nationwide.
The former social worker must now wait as her party enters negotiations with independents in the hope of forming a minority government.
Ms King, who won the seat from the Liberal Party in 2001, said many projects were at stake while the nation waited for the results.
"We are in a holding pattern at the moment, waiting to see what happens," Ms King said. "I am very keen to see the promise we made prior to the election for the [Bacchus Marsh Civic and Community Hub project] Darley campus to go ahead.
"If we do retain government, the National Broadband Network will be holding consultations with the council and we will start to see a roll-out."
Ms King secured 39,661 first preference votes with a swing towards her of 1.93per cent. Liberal candidate Mark Banwell got 25,672 first preference votes. However, it was Greens candidate Belinda Coates who had major gains with a 2.98per cent positive swing, up from 1.3per cent last election. Ms Coates' first preference vote was 8320.
Ms Coates said she was happy about the local results and ecstatic about the national results for the Greens.
"From what I heard from people in the community, there was a dissatisfaction for the lack of vision from the big parties," Ms Coates said.
"The Greens provided a voice of reason on a number of issues including asylum seekers."
Although returning to her social work, the mother of one said she would continue to be involved in the community.
Mr Banwell could not be reached for comment. A spokesman said the Liberal candidate was spending time with his family.
Family First candidate Jim Rainey could not be reached for comment.
In her acceptance speech at the Victorian Railway Institute Hall in Ballarat on Saturday night, Ms King praised the other candidates for a "hard- fought" but honest contest.
"I do want to thank them for what has been a really clean campaign, which is the tradition here in Ballarat, and I'm very pleased to see we kept with that tradition here," she said.
Amid rapturous applause, Ms King pledged to grow the economy in Ballarat and ensure it continued to be a great place to raise a family.
Later that night Ms King said she had run a "grassroots" campaign and had worked to maintain a consistent presence in the community.
"Campaigns aren't won in that five-week period," she said.
"It's really the hard work you do in the lead-up to the next election that I think is what people vote on at the end of the day. And that's what they expect from you as well."
with Ballarat Courier
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