Perera hangs tough

By Bridget Brady
LABOR’S Jude Perera managed to hold on to the seat of Cranbourne, recognising the community was ready for a change.
Cranbourne Liberal candidate Geoff Ablett dramatically closed the 11.3 per cent Labor margin in Cranbourne, with a 9.7 per cent swing to the Liberal Party.
The success of the Liberal vote will now make Cranbourne a marginal seat at the next election.
Mr Perera, who will enter his third term, said he would hold the new Coalition Government to account, and hoped other tiers of government, such as Casey Council, would do the same.
“The feeling was that residents wanted a change after 11 years of government,” Mr Perera said.
“We’ll hold the government to account so they keep their promises not only for Cranbourne, but the whole south-east region.”
One of the promises the Coalition has made was a $24 million commitment to Casey council for the costs associated with the Stevensons Road landfill clean-up.
Mr Ablett said he wasn’t surprised with his result for the Liberal Party, given the support he had from the community.
“I think we did a great job, I was pleased with the effort,” Mr Ablett said.
“If people can see you making an effort to address issues, they’ll support you.
“They sent a clear message that they’re not happy with the way things are being conducted.”
Mr Ablett said there were some issues in the area that still needed to be addressed, such as improved transport and the Stevensons Road landfill issue. Greens candidate Hilary Bray received about 2855 votes, and said she wanted to thank voters in the Cranbourne electorate for their support.
“Although this time your vote went to your next preference, the vote for the Greens increased noticeably,” Ms Bray said.
Ms Bray said her reaction to this election was that some people had an incorrect impression of the Greens, and noted the party did not want to ban fishing. She urged those who were curious to visit the Greens website.