Legislative Council: Eastern Victoria

Eastern Victoria extends from the lower house districts on Melbourne’s eastern fringe – including Evelyn, Monbulk and Gevbrook in the outer east, together with bayside Mornington and Nepean – and onwards through Gippsland. Its only Labor-held seat is Monbulk, and even that has been made notionally Liberal by the redistribution. Its boundaries have been only slightly affected by the redistribution. The results at both the 2006 and 2010 election were two seats for the Liberals, one for the Nationals and two for Labor, although the Liberals and the Nationals ran separate tickets in 2006. The seat represents a particularly strong opportunity for a micro-party victory, with preferences consolidating strongly behind the Shooters and Fishers Party.

The top three positions on the Coalition ticket are all occupied by incumbents, the second going to the Nationals and the first and third to the Liberals. Top of the ticket is Edward O’Donohue, a former lawyer and real estate company manager who won election from second place on the ticket in 2006 and 2010. His promotion to the top of the ticket follows the mid-term retirement of Philip Davis, who held the position in 2006 and 2010. O’Donohue was made a parliamentary secretary after the 2010 election victory, and attained his present position in cabinet in the liquor and gaming regulation and corrections portfolios in April 2013.

The members holding the second and third positions both filled casual vacancies created by the retirements of sitting members early this year. The Nationals’ position at number two goes to Danny O’Brien, who came to parliament in March 2014 in place of Peter Hall. Hall won a seat from top of the Nationals ticket in 2006, and then took his party’s position on the Coalition ticket in 2010.

The number three candidate is Liberal incumbent Andrew Ronalds, previously the director of Dairy Cropping Australia, who filled a casual vacancy in February caused by Philip Davis’s retirement.

In contrast to the Coalition, Labor has an entirely fresh ticket following the retirements of incumbents Matt Viney and John Scheffer. In top position is Harriet Shing, a lawyer for the Left faction Australian Services Union.

Labor initially preselected Vicky Setches, a former electorate officer to Eastern Metropolitan MLC Shaun Leane who ran as Labor’s candidate in the lower house seat of Kilsyth at the 2010 election after emerging the winner of an experimental US-style “open primary” preselection. However, she announced in late September that she was withdrawing due to health reasons. The position now goes to Daniel Mulino, who was an adviser to Bill Shorten in his capacity as a Gillard/Rudd government minister. Mulino was Daniel Andrews’ choice to fill the casual vacancy created by Candy Broad’s retirement in Northern Victoria in June. But as John Ferguson of The Australian put it, Andrews was “rolled” by the Left faction forces aligned with Senator Kim Carr, who were reportedly concerned that he was too close to the socially conservative Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association.

The number three candidate is Ian Maxfield, who held the lower house seat of Narracan from 1999 until his defeat in 2006.

Other candidates: The allocation of preferences has created an exceptionally strong opportunity in this region for the Shooters and Fishers Party, whose lead candidate is Jeff Bourman, described in The Age as “a former police officer turned IT contractor and gun enthusiast”. The Greens candidate is Andrea Millson, a case manager at the Department of Human Services.

Simplified preference tickets

Excluded from consideration: the top two Coalition and first Labor candidates.

Voluntary Euthanasia: Liberal Democratic; Sex Party; Greens; Shooters And Fishers; Cyclists; People Power; Animal Justice; DLP; Family First; Labor; Palmer United; Country Alliance; Coalition; Rise Up Australia; Australian Christians.
Liberal Democratic: Shooters And Fishers; Country Alliance; DLP; Rise Up Australia; Sex Party; Voluntary Euthanasia; Family First; People Power; Coalition; Australian Christians; Cyclists; Labor; Palmer United; Greens; Animal Justice.
Sex Party: Animal Justice; Shooters And Fishers; Voluntary Euthanasia; Cyclists; Liberal Democratic; Greens; People Power; Labor; Palmer United; Country Alliance; Coalition; Australian Christians; DLP; Family First; Rise Up Australia.
Greens: Animal Justice; Cyclists; Voluntary Euthanasia; Sex Party; People Power; Palmer United; Labor; Liberal Democratic; Family First; DLP; Shooters And Fishers; Coalition; Country Alliance; Australian Christians; Rise Up Australia.
Shooters And Fishers: Palmer United; Country Alliance; Liberal Democratic; DLP; Australian Christians; Rise Up Australia; Cyclists; People Power; Sex Party; Family First; Voluntary Euthanasia; Coalition; Labor; Animal Justice; Greens.
Palmer United: Shooters And Fishers; Coalition; Australian Christians; Greens; Labor; Rise Up Australia; People Power; Family First; Animal Justice; Cyclists; Sex Party; DLP; Voluntary Euthanasia; Liberal Democratic; Country Alliance.
Rise Up Australia: Shooters And Fishers; Australian Christians; DLP; Country Alliance; Family First; People Power; Coalition; Liberal Democratic; Labor; Animal Justice; Voluntary Euthanasia; Sex Party; Palmer United; Cyclists; Greens.
Coalition: Shooters And Fishers; Country Alliance; Australian Christians; Family First; People Power; Liberal Democratic; Palmer United; DLP; Sex Party; Cyclists; Animal Justice; Labor; Rise Up Australia; Voluntary Euthanasia; Greens.
Labor: Country Alliance; People Power; Cyclists; Greens; Sex Party; Voluntary Euthanasia; Liberal Democratic; Palmer United; Animal Justice; DLP; Shooters And Fishers; Family First; Coalition; Australian Christians; Rise Up Australia.
Australian Christians: Shooters And Fishers; Rise Up Australia; DLP; Coalition; Family First; People Power; Country Alliance; Labor; Palmer United; Liberal Democratic; Animal Justice; Cyclists; Greens; Sex Party; Voluntary Euthanasia.
Family First: Shooters And Fishers; Country Alliance; Australian Christians; Rise Up Australia; DLP; Liberal Democratic; Palmer United; Coalition; Labor; People Power; Cyclists; Animal Justice; Greens; Voluntary Euthanasia; Sex Party.
Animal Justice: Cyclists; People Power; Sex Party; Voluntary Euthanasia; Greens; Labor; Coalition; Palmer United; Family First; DLP; Country Alliance; Australian Christians; Liberal Democratic; Rise Up Australia; Shooters And Fishers.
DLP: Shooters And Fishers; Rise Up Australia; Country Alliance; Australian Christians; Family First; People Power; Liberal Democratic; Coalition; Labor; Palmer United; Cyclists; Animal Justice; Voluntary Euthanasia; Sex Party; Greens.
People Power: Shooters And Fishers; Liberal Democratic; Country Alliance; DLP; Animal Justice; Rise Up Australia; Australian Christians; Family First; Cyclists; Sex Party; Greens; Voluntary Euthanasia; Labor; Coalition; Palmer United.
Cyclists: Voluntary Euthanasia; Liberal Democratic; Sex Party; Animal Justice; Greens; DLP; Labor; Coalition; Country Alliance; People Power; Palmer United; Australian Christians; Family First; Rise Up Australia.
Country Alliance: Liberal Democratic; Coalition; DLP; Family First; Shooters And Fishers; Australian Christians; Labor; Rise Up Australia; People Power; Cyclists; Voluntary Euthanasia; Sex Party; Animal Justice; Palmer United; Greens.