Legislative Council: Western Metropolitan
The region of Western Metropolitan covers Labor’s Melbourne heartland, specifically that part of it where it does not face a strong challenge from the Greens, whose best areas are in Northern Metropolitan. All 11 of the region’s lower house districts are notionally or actually held by Labor. The new seats of Sunbury and Werribee have been added in the redistribution, at the cost of Pascoe Vale and Yuroke being transferred to Northern Metropolitan. This slightly strengthens the Liberals at Labor’s expense, and increases their chances of retaining the second seat they won at Labor’s expense in 2010. The region is one of three at which the Greens won seats in 2006 and 2010.
The Liberals won only one seat at the 2006 election, and were narrowly successful in making it to two in 2010.
For the third election in a row, their only secure position on the ticket is occupied by Bernie Finn, a former radio personality and noted social conservative. Finn earlier held the naturally Labor-leaning lower house seat of Tullamarine, which the Liberals were able to win amid their strong victories in 1992 and 1996. He also ran unsuccessfully for the seat of Macedon in 2002, before finding a path back to parliament with an upper house position in the region corresponding to his old lower house seat.
The precarious second position on the Liberal ticket is occupied by Andrew Elsbury, a former adviser to Senator Michael Ronaldson who won the party’s second seat in 2010.
Labor’s ticket in Western Metropolitan has been defined by a stable arrangement in which the Right takes the first and third positions with the second going to the Left. The top position was taken in 2006 by Justin Madden, who moved to the lower house seat of Essendon in 2010, and in 2010 by Martin Pakula, who moved to the lower house seat of Lyndhurst (now to be renamed Keysborough) at the by-election held in April 2013 after the retirement of Tim Holding.
The casual vacancy created by Pakula’s departure was filled by former Australian Workers Union state secretary Cesar Melhem, who also inherits his position at the top of the ticket. Melhem has been a target of Liberal attacks throughout the election campaign after the Royal Commission into trade union corruption heard he had used a slush fund for, as The Age describes it, “ expensive restaurants and hotels, cigars, alcohol and electronic goods”. Spending from the fund was also used to the advantage of campaigns by Marlene Kairouz, the member for Kororit, and Natalie Suleyman, the preselected candidate for St Albans.
The Left-backed Khalil Eideh has maintained second position since 2006. Prior to entering parliament, Eideh was the manager of family-owned transport company Blue Star Logistics and president of the Alawi Islamic Association, an organisation strongly supportive of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad.
The Right-mandated third position has gone to Stanley Chiang, a Chinese-born councillor and former mayor of Darebin.
Colleen Hartland has been the Greens member for Western Metropolitan since the 2006 election, at which reforms to the Legislative Council gave the party an entry into parliament for the first time. The party’s complement of three MPs has been unchanged throughout that period, the other two being party leader Greg Barber in Northern Metropolitan region and Sue Pennicuik in Southern Metropolitan. Hartland came to prominence in the local environmental movement as a campaigner against the storage of toxic chemicals at the Coode Island facility.
Simplified preference tickets
Excluded from consideration: the top two Labor and top Coalition candidates.
Greens: Voice For The West; Animal Justice; Cyclists; Sex Party; Labor; People Power; Palmer United; Liberal; Liberal Democratic; Family First; DLP; Shooters And Fishers; Country Alliance; Australian Christians; Rise Up Australia.
People Power: Voice For The West; DLP; Animal Justice; Australian Christians; Cyclists; Country Alliance; Liberal Democratic; Rise Up Australia; Sex Party; Family First; Shooters And Fishers; Liberal; Labor; Greens; Palmer United.
Liberal Democratic: People Power; DLP; Voice For The West; Sex Party; Shooters And Fishers; Family First; Country Alliance; Rise Up Australia; Liberal; Australian Christians; Cyclists; Greens; Labor; Palmer United; Animal Justice.
Voice For The West: DLP; People Power; Liberal Democratic; Country Alliance; Family First; Shooters And Fishers; Australian Christians; Cyclists; Rise Up Australia; Animal Justice; Palmer United; Sex Party; Greens; Labor; Liberal.
Palmer United: Shooters And Fishers; Animal Justice; Australian Christians; People Power; Greens; Liberal; Labor; Cyclists; Sex Party; Country Alliance; Voice For The West; Family First; Rise Up Australia; Liberal Democratic; DLP.
Country Alliance: DLP; Voice For The West; Liberal Democratic; Liberal; People Power; Australian Christians; Family First; Shooters And Fishers; Sex Party; Labor; Cyclists; Rise Up Australia; Animal Justice; Palmer United; Greens.
Australian Christians: DLP; Rise Up Australia; Liberal; Family First; Shooters And Fishers; People Power; Voice For The West; Country Alliance; Labor; Palmer United; Liberal Democratic; Cyclists; Animal Justice; Greens; Sex Party.
Labor: Voice For The West; Greens; Sex Party; Cyclists; Country Alliance; Palmer United; People Power; DLP; Animal Justice; Liberal Democratic; Shooters And Fishers; Family First; Liberal; Australian Christians; Rise Up Australia.
Cyclists: Greens; Voice For The West; Sex Party; Labor; Animal Justice; DLP; Liberal Democratic; People Power; Liberal; Family First; Palmer United; Country Alliance; Australian Christians; Shooters And Fishers; Rise Up Australia.
Sex Party: Animal Justice; Cyclists; Voice For The West; People Power; Greens; Liberal Democratic; Labor; Liberal; Palmer United; Country Alliance; Australian Christians; Shooters And Fishers; DLP; Family First; Rise Up Australia.
Animal Justice: Cyclists; People Power; Sex Party; Greens; Voice For The West; Labor; Palmer United; Liberal; DLP; Family First; Australian Christians; Country Alliance; Liberal Democratic; Rise Up Australia; Shooters And Fishers.
Family First: Voice For The West; DLP; Australian Christians; Rise Up Australia; Palmer United; Liberal; Shooters And Fishers; People Power; Liberal Democratic; Country Alliance; Cyclists; Animal Justice; Labor; Greens; Sex Party.
Liberal: Family First; Australian Christians; Voice For The West; Shooters And Fishers; Country Alliance; People Power; Palmer United; Liberal Democratic; DLP; Sex Party; Cyclists; Labor; Animal Justice; Rise Up Australia; Greens.
Shooters And Fishers: DLP; People Power; Australian Christians; Liberal Democratic; Cyclists; Voice For The West; Rise Up Australia; Family First; Country Alliance; Palmer United; Sex Party; Liberal; Greens; Labor; Animal Justice.
DLP: Voice For The West; Rise Up Australia; Australian Christians; People Power; Shooters And Fishers; Family First; Liberal Democratic; Country Alliance; Labor; Liberal; Palmer United; Cyclists; Animal Justice; Sex Party; Greens.
Rise Up Australia: DLP; Australian Christians; Family First; People Power; Shooters And Fishers; Country Alliance; Voice For The West; Liberal; Liberal Democratic; Labor; Animal Justice; Palmer United; Sex Party; Cyclists; Greens.