By Mitchell Clarke
Russell Broadbent has vowed to get started on delivering for the people of Monash, after being re-elected for his seventh term at Saturday’s Federal election.
The veteran Liberal MP won 57.4 per cent of the two party preferred count over Labor’s Jessica O’Donnell.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do because we’ve made some promises and we need to get started on those now,” Mr Broadbent said.
“My electorate has a very long boundary of foreshore, so we’re doing erosion control and foreshore management.
“There are projects involving roads and bridges which need to be finished including the Gippsland rail project.”
Mr Broadbent said he was very pleased to continue as the local member for his area.
“I feel amazing, it’s amazing how the Latrobe Valley, Moe, Newborough, Wonthaggi, West Gippsland have all taken me on.
“They’ve taken ownership of their member and even in difficult times, they continue to look after their local member.”
Despite his numerous wins, Mr Broadbent said he never felt too confident before an election.
“I’m never confident, I’ve lost too many election campaigns,” he said.
“I work as if I’m 100 votes behind every time.”
Mr Broadbent won all but a handful of booths including five around Moe, two in Wonthaggi and booths in Cape Patterson, Corinella and Cowes.
He was quick to send praise towards Latrobe MP Jason Wood, who was also re-elected.
“Some amazing things are going to happen around Pakenham on the roads front, and it’s crucial that the situation there gets cleaned up.”
Ms O’Donnell was contacted for comment but did not respond in time for deadline.
The Monash electorate saw positive swings for Labor, One Nation and United Australia while Liberal and the Greens took negative swings, with -3.3 per cent and –3.5 per cent, respectively.
One Nation candidate Jeff Waddell recorded 7.4 per cent of the overall first preference vote while Greens candidate William Hornstra recorded 6.6 per cent.
The Monash seat has been held by Mr Broadbent for 15 years. He first won the seat in 1996 but lost it to Labor’s Christian Zahra at the following election and again in 2001. He regained the seat back in 2004 and has held it ever since.
The electorate covers 8,879 square kilometres and starts on the south-east edge of Melbourne, extending along the Princess Highway to Moe and south-east along the South Gippsland Highway towards Wilsons Promontory.
