Lovell returned to upper house, Coalition gains second member in Northern Victoria

By Max Stainkamph

Nov 27, 2022

Back again: Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

State Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell has been returned to the Victorian upper house following Saturday’s election, extending her two-decade run in parliament.

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Ms Lovell will be joined by Bendigo-based Nationals candidate Gaelle Broad in representing the Northern Victoria region, which stretches from Mildura to Wodonga and as far south as Broadford.

Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes has also been returned to the upper house, with Labor securing at least one seat in Northern Victoria.

There are five members elected per region, with each party or ticket needing to reach a quota — which roughly translates to 16 per cent of the votes cast — to secure a seat.

The Coalition has two quota and Labor one so far, with preferences between the more than 20 parties running in the region to determine the make-up of the final two spots.

The Shepparton-based Ms Lovell said it was hard to tell if the crossbench would grow or shrink as preferences began to change.

“It's very difficult to know what the crossbench may look like,” Ms Lovell said.

“The people may think, the chaos of the last parliament we had ... ‘that’s not good for democracy’.“

The final two spots in Northern Victoria may take days to determine as preferences are calculated.