6:42 – Three small booths have reported in Huon. Independent Clare Glade-Wright is leading with 36.5%, with incumbent conservative independent Dean Harris on 24.2%, Greens on 16.5% and Labor on 14.6%. This is a slight 0.9% swing to Harriss compared to last time. Labor and the Greens are both down – Labor down 7.8%, and Greens down 10.1%. Glade-Wright is currently looking very viable and is Harriss’ main challenger. But they are just three small booths.
6:00 – Polls have just closed for some elections being held today in Victoria and Tasmania, and I’ll be tracking the results tonight on this live blog.
In the Victorian state seat of Nepean, a by-election will choose a new member of parliament to serve until the November state election, following the resignation of Liberal MP Sam Groth. This seat was held by Groth by a 6.2% margin. Labor is not contesting the seat but the Liberal Party faces a challenge from One Nation, independent Tracee Hutchison, or both.
In Tasmania, voters are electing two members of the Legislative Council, in the seats of Huon (which covers rural areas to the south-west of Hobart) and Rosevears (which covers rural and suburban areas to the north-west of Launceston). Tasmania’s MLCs serve six-year terms, with 2-3 seats up for election each year over a six-year cycle.
In both seats, conservative MLCs are defending seats they last won by narrow margins.
Labor won Huon at the last regular election in 2020, but that MP resigned within two years, and the 2022 by-election was won by conservative independent Dean Harriss, winning by a 2.5% margin over Labor. Labor and the Greens are challenging Harriss this time, alongside three other candidates.
Liberal MLC Jo Palmer narrowly won Rosevears by a 0.6% margin over independent Janie Finlay, who later became a Labor lower house MP. Three of the four candidates in Rosevears are Labor, Liberal and the Greens. Independents have traditionally played a big role in Tasmanian Legislative Council elections, but Rosevears is as close as they get to a straight Labor-Liberal contest.
