Victoria votes: Suzanna Sheed concedes Shepparton to Kim O’Keeffe, National Party produces strong showing

UPDATE, 10.45pm: O’Keeffe thanks supporters for their efforts

New Member for Shepparton Kim O’Keeffe has thanked her team for its support during her successful run for state parliament.

“From the minute I joined the team I felt the support of everyone, I felt like I was in the right place,” she told supporters at her campaign event on Saturday night.

“I’m really excited, I’m absolutely thrilled — I’m not going to say shocked because I think we had a really good chance.

“I’m so proud of my campaign, it was a positive, bright, caring campaign and I want to make sure I acknowledge that.”

She thanked many people involved in helping her campaign, but the biggest round of applause was reserved for Azem Elmaz, who threw himself into Ms O’Keeffe’s campaign and shut his restaurant for a week to volunteer on pre-poll.

She also thanked her husband Brendan, who she said backed her to the hilt when she said she wanted to run for parliament.

“I’m blessed to have a beautiful husband and two beautiful daughters but also friends and community members who are watching. What more can you ask for,” she said.

“I will be working that hard that they will still say ‘Kim’s still fighting for our community’.”

That will wrap up up for the blog this evening, too — stay tuned over the next few days as we continue to cover the fall-out from the election.

Also — no Garang Kuol for the Socceroos?? I demand a refund.

UPDATE, 10.05pm: Aussies up

It’s 1-0 at half time in the World Cup clash between Australia and Tunisia, with the Aussies leading.

Here’s the full story from Suzanna Sheed’s concession - and Max is back with quotes from Kim O’Keeffe’s campaign headquarters.

UPDATE, 9.30pm: Campaign was different this time around: Hammer

As we await Max Stainkamph’s return from Nationals HQ, let’s circle back to just before all of the madness began.

Cheryl Hammer spoke to Max about the changing face of Liberal support in the region.

“Unlike 2018 where I was working really closely with a lot of the stalwarts, people in the Liberal bubble you would call it, people who were members (of the Liberal Party) and have been around politics for a long time and campaigned a lot in this electorate,” Ms Hammer said.

“(This time) a lot of these people (it’s) their first time involved in a campaign, they’ve come out to support me personally but also really believe in the campaign that we put together.”

UPDATE, 8.55pm: Region goes green

It’s a red-letter - or should I say green-letter - day for the National Party in Victoria.

The big wigs with the fancy TV screens are calling National victories for all four of our local region’s seats - Shepparton, Euroa, Murray Plains and Ovens Valley.

With Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell also in the Nationals camp that makes the region green all over.

Current projections have Kim O’Keeffe taking the seat of Shepparton with 55.6% of the preferencing over incumbent Suzanna Sheed with 44.4% - a projected 10.9% swing away from Sheed.

UPDATE, 8.50pm: More from Suzanna Sheed

“We've had an incredible run, and we've achieved so much and I should have had my list but I think you all know what we've done,” outgoing member for Shepparton Suzanna Sheed said in her concession speech to volunteers.

“We've got a five story building down there at the hospital, a new emergency department. We've got a mother baby unit that's yet to be built. We've got $163 million mental health unit we've got a billion dollars in rail, so many things that we did.

“I just feel like every day that I've been your local member, that you've held me to account and that I felt accountable, and I worked hard to achieve those things.

“I used all the skills that I have to achieve those things and so I couldn't have done it without the incredible feeling of support that I always got from the community and from everyone that I came into contact with, which just gives you the strength to go on and for that I just thank you all so much because you all helped me do it.”

UPDATE, 8.25pm: Bit happening

Everything is happening all at once, as usual.

The overall election has been called in the sense that the Liberal Party will be unable to form government. Whether Labor retains a majority or a minority remains up in the air.

I’ll have more from Suzanna Sheed’s speech for you shortly, as well as word from Liberal Party HQ in Shepp.

UPDATE, 8:20pm: Suzanna Sheed has conceded the electorate of Shepparton

Max Stainkamph is in Suzanna Sheed’s campaign headquarters and the incumbent Independent Member for Shepparton has conceded.

Ms Sheed says she has "absolutely no regrets" from the last eight years.

"We've opened up Shepparton over the last eight years and they won't take us for granted ever again,“ she said.

She went on to say “thank you all so much, spend time with family.”

More to come.

UPDATE, 8.10pm: News from Doha

Garang Kuol - as expected - has been named on the bench for the Socceroos as they get set to take on Tunisia in the World Cup within the hour.

23% of the Shepparton votes have been counted and Kim O’Keeffe still holds a slight lead with 31.5% of the overall vote to Suzanna Sheed’s 28.5% - which represents a difference of just 335 votes.

Cheryl Hammer has 21.2% of the vote.

Some booth figures have started rolling in and I’ll delve into those for you shortly.

UPDATE, 7.45pm: Counting moving steadily

Almost 11% of the vote has been counted in Shepparton, and Kim O’Keeffe leads with 33.5% of it.

Suzanna Sheed sits on 26.3% of the vote and Cheryl Hammer on 20.2%.

Nearly 20% of the vote has been counted in Murray Plains and the ABC is calling a sixth term for incumbent Peter Walsh.

He has 65.8% of the total vote and currently has a 1.9% swing towards him - after holding the seat by a margin of 23.9% in 2018 - in the projected preferencing over Labor’s Damien Hurrell.

Only 8% of the vote has been counted in Euroa, with Annabelle Cleeland holding 41.2%, and in Ovens Valley it is Tim McCurdy holding 48.4% of the total vote with 8.6% counted.

Here’s the link to the full story with Kim O’Keeffe.

UPDATE, 7:30pm: Shepparton’s Nationals HQ

Deputy Editor Max Stainkamph is doing the rounds of the main candidates’ headquarters tonight - first stop Belcibo’s and National Party candidate Kim O’Keeffe.

“It’s been a really busy time and today was the end of the race really,” Ms O’Keeffe said.

“I feel really proud of the campaign we’ve had and the support I’ve had and I think we’ve given ourselves a chance.

“We’ve given it our all and I think you walk away knowing that you’ve given it your best shot - and that’s how I feel.”

More to come from that chat with Ms O’Keeffe shortly.

UPDATE, 7:20pm: Wendy Lovell speaking on One Fm

Incumbent Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell has joined the One FM coverage, and among other things she has given a prediction for what the Upper House could look like for our region after today.

She is predicting that the Coalition will grab at least two of the five seats, Labor one and minor parties two.

UPDATE, 7pm: Early indications

We’ve now got some booths pushing results through across the region.

As expected, Shepparton’s race has begun tightly.

742 votes have been counted, with National candidate Kim O’Keeffe in the lead on 227, Liberal candidate Cheryl Hammer on 189 and incumbent Independent candidate Suzanna Sheed on 171.

It does only reflect 1.5% of the total vote thus far though.

Slightly more - 3.4% - of the Euroa district vote has been counted, with National candidate Annabelle Cleeland holding 39.1% of the vote and Labor’s Angela Tough 24.4%.

Liberal Brad Hearn has 353 votes, or 21.5%.

Nationals leader and Murray Plains incumbent Peter Walsh has stormed out of the gates with 73.9% of the vote - almost 6% of the total votes have been counted.

Fellow Nationals incumbent Tim McCurdy has 51.1% of the very early count in Ovens Valley.

UPDATE, 6:45pm: Eyes and ears

While your eyes will be on this live blog all night I’m sure, make sure you tune your ears into 98.5 One FM’s special election coverage with Terri Cowley and Anthony Brophy.

Max Stainkamph will be calling in from around town as he gets out to the main candidate party rooms in Shepparton.

You can find it here - https://fm985.com.au/audio-player/

UPDATE, 6:30pm: Results will start as a trickle

Results will start coming in with earnest over the next half an hour or so.

To give you an idea of just how early in the count we are, Euroa has 146 total votes counted and National candidate Annabelle Cleeland leads Liberal candidate Brad Hearn by 19 votes.

In other words, there’s plenty of road ahead of us tonight.

UPDATE, 6pm: No more votes!

Like the dealer at a roulette table, the VEC has swept its metaphorical arm across the state and declared ‘no more votes’!

Attention will shortly turn to the results rolling in, and we will have all eyes on them like the bobbling ball in the spinning wheel.

Stay tuned for updates as they come to hand.

In the meantime, Murray Silby has spoken to some of the volunteers out and about today about why they do what they do.

UPDATE, 5.35pm: A Cobram update

Cobram Courier correspondent Barb Love has sent these images in.

UPDATE, 5.25pm: Through the lens

I’ve put together this gallery of today’s action across the region, check it out below.

UPDATE, 4:15pm: Number-crunching

I’ve crunched the numbers on how many voters in the districts across our coverage area carried out their democratic duty before today.

Now, I know what you’re thinking - journalism and mathematics are usually mutually exclusive terms.

And while I agree, the only actual calculating I had to do from the VEC spreadsheets was deduct the cancelled postal vote applications (very small number) from the overall postal vote applications (much bigger number).

Anyway, here’s the yarn.

UPDATE, 3.55pm: Labor candidate campaigns in home town

Murray Silby caught up with Labor’s Liam Cowan today, who was optimistic about his chances in the Shepparton district.

“Anything's possible,” he said.

For the full story, click the link below.

UPDATE, 3.22pm: Word from Bunbartha

Ag Editor Fiona Lloyd has been out to the Bunbartha Community Centre this afternoon.

According to the folks handing out how-to-vote cards there had been a steady flow of people coming through since the booth opened.

Everyone appreciated the warmer weather and sunshine and it was good to see the water receding - though the oval was still about a quarter under water.

UPDATE, 3.15pm: Opposition leader optimistic

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has pledged to steer Victoria's post-pandemic recovery by fixing healthcare and reducing debt if he is elected premier.

The Liberal leader said the coalition's proposed $2 flat fare for public transport and $10 billion healthcare plan were examples of how his party would help give Victorians a fresh start.

"I just hope all Victorians after today get the government that we know we need so much in this state," Mr Guy told reporters on Saturday.

For the full story from AAP - click here.

UPDATE, 3.05pm: All hail the democracy snag

You will be pleased to know that Max Stainkamph has found his way to a democracy delicacy this afternoon.

In actual news, Simon Ruppert caught up with some more voters in the Euroa district.

Jill Bromley voted in Violet Town this afternoon.

She said whoever is elected she would like to see the state pay back some of its debt.

“I can remember when the state was in a huge amount of trouble a long time ago and we lost our credit rating,” Ms Bromley said.

“I wouldn’t like to see that happen again.

“And you want to see (the cost of living) go down. It’s really hard.

“I feel sorry for whoever is in government. They’ve got a lot to try and work out.”

UPDATE, 2.45pm: More from Murray Plains

Riverine Herald editor Gregor Mactaggart was out and about in Echuca this morning, and bumped into Labor candidate for Murray Plains Damien Hurrell who was handing out how to vote cards at Twin Rivers Primary School.

Mr Hurrell is rated an outside bet of winning the seat from incumbent Peter Walsh, but said his presence had been warmly received by people lining up to cast their ballots.

“I’ve been heartened by the support I’ve received,” Mr Hurrell said.

Exit polling from the Riverine Herald earlier this week showed Mr Hurrell’s vote at 22 per cent.

If the numbers remain that way, his vote is likely to exceed the 19.39 per cent primary vote gained by Labor at the 2018 election.

But with Mr Walsh, the Nationals Leader, holding a 24 per cent margin, Mr Hurrell was realistic about his chances.

“At the end of the day, the voters make the decision,” he said.

“It is about giving them a choice, you’ve got to be in it to win it.”

UPDATE, 2.20pm: Hear from voters at Kialla West

Patrick Morrow spoke to some voters and volunteers at Kialla West Primary School this morning - including first-time voter Madison Brown.

“I’m a little nervous, I don’t really know what’s going on,” Ms Brown said.

For the full story, click the link below.

UPDATE, 2.05pm: Views from Avenel

Seymour correspondent Bianca Hall is still out and about and has found her way to Avenel.

Here’s what some of the locals she found had to say about the election.

UPDATE, 1.40pm: Premier says no to minority government deals

Tyler Maher taking the reins on the blog here for the afternoon and evening shift.

I’ll be with you through the remainder of the polling, tonight’s initial counting and of course Australia taking on Tunisia in the World Cup from 9pm.

In earlier news today, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will refuse to offer independents and minor parties a deal in order to hold onto power for an elusive third term as voters across the state go to the polls.

More than a million people are expected to vote at 1700 election-day sites before 6pm on Saturday to decide who will govern for the next four years.

Speaking shortly after voting opened, Mr Andrews said he was urging Victorians to opt for a "strong, stable, majority Labor government" as polls pointed to the potential for a hung parliament.

For the full story - via AAP - click here.

UPDATE, 1.20pm: Fundraiser continues at Kialla Central

With any Federal or state election across Australiathe thing people are hanging out for is the ‘democracy sausage’.

One of the few places across Shepparton to get a democracy sausage on Saturday was the Kialla Central Primary School where they were offering up sausages and a bake -sale for dessert.

Patrick Morrow has the story, and with that, Max Stainkamph will sign off from the food blog and leave you in the hands of Tyler Maher. I’ll be back later tonight as results roll in.

UPDATE, 12.55pm: Gooroombat voter hoping for a change of government

Wallace Binnie voted in Goorambat this afternoon and spoke to Simon Ruppert after filling in the ballot.

He said he is hoping for a change of government and expects the Nationals to be returned in the seat of Euroa.

“I haven’t got a lot of confidence in our conservative parties being able to topple a very committed politician such as Dan Andrews,” Mr Binnie said.

“I only hope that is the case. He (Dan Andrews) has never been in the real world, other than being a politician.

“The best outcome I can hope for is for him to not being in charge, being so dictatorial.”

He said the most important election issue to him is regional infrastructure funding.

“We need more work done on our roads in regional Victoria,” he said.

Mr Binnie said he expects Annabelle Cleeland to win the seat of Euroa but feels she has big shoes to fill.

“I would hope she is of the same ilk (as Steph Ryan). I haven’t met her, but by all accounts she sounds like a very good candidate. “

UPDATE, 12.45pm: Checking in in Euroa

Benalla Ensign editor Simon Ruppert has made his way to Gooroombat after finding a snag at the Benalla Lakeside market (not a voting centre).

Meanwhile, Bianca Hall in Seymour has spoken to some voters on Anzac Ave., and spoke to Bary Ulrich, who wasnt impressed with candidates on offer.

“There’s not much to vote on... If you really analyse it they are both saying the same thing,” he said.

Meanwhile Trawool’s Melissa King said she was hoping for "a bit of a change in the right direction“ following today’s count.

UPDATE, 12.15pm: Some volunteer snaps

Despite being at ideological odds, our reporters on the ground have taken snaps of volunteers together smiling across the region.

UPDATE, 12pm: Back to the food

I’d like to formally apologise for bring a political update to what’s becoming a food blog, normal programming has resumed.

Anna McGuinness has finally sent through a photo of her find in Numurkah, while the ABC’s Courtney Howe has also been to Kialla Central alongside Patrick Morrow and Rechelle Zammit.

Although I will bring in another update from around the grounds, at Orrvale Primary School Patrick Morrow spoke to a first-time voter and her parents about how they felt about the race in Shepparton.

Read that yarn below.

UPDATE, 11.45am: Checking in at Echuca

This just in from Riverine Herald editor Gregor MacTaggart, Nationals Leader Peter Walsh cast his ballot this morning at 208 Primary School in Echuca.

Mr Walsh, who is the $1.01 favourite to retain the seat of Murray Plains, spent the morning in the electorate before heading to Melbourne.

“I’m heading to Bulleen for Matthew’s (Guy) election party,” Mr Walsh said.

“I’m pretty positive about how the campaign has gone, but whether that is enough to change the government remains to be seen.”

The Nationals are looking to play their role and build on the current tally of six seats in the lower house.

Mr Walsh offered some insight into how the party was shaping up in the seats of Shepparton, Morwell and Mildura.

“I believe we’ll do well in Shepparton because Kim O’Keeffe is a fine candidate,” Mr Walsh said.

“Again in Morwell we’ve got a top candidate in Martin Cameron, who has done a terrific job during the campaign.

“Mildura will be more of a challenge because you’ve got a first term independent, although Jade (Benham) is a very good candidate.

“We’re also hopeful of regaining an upper house seat for Northern Victoria.”

UPDATE, 11.30am: Another lead on snags

The barbecue is firing up at St Brendan’s Primary School in a welcome sight for hungry eyes.

However, there’s still no dice in Benalla.

Country News’ Geoff Adams has reported a decent line at Guthrie St Primary School (and no barbecue) too.

UPDATE, 11.15: A lead on Democracy Snags

ABC Country Hour host and all-round good egg Warwick Long has delivered the goods with some Democracy Sausage intel.

Patrick Morrow and Rechelle Zammit are on the way down to suss it out.

Meanwhile it appears most of the Shepparton candidates are making their way north to hit some of the smaller polling booths across the region.

UPDATE, 11am: Faithful St voting centre keeping the faith

Benalla Ensign editor Simon Ruppert has had a chat to voter Craig Wallace, who cast his vote at Benalla’s Faithful St voting centre this morning.

Mr Wallace said the most important things for him at this election are funding for regional healthcare and roads.

“I’d like to see more spending in the regions rather than just being focussed on the city,” Mr Wallace said.

UPDATE, 10.45am: Where are all the Democracy Sausages?

Aside from reporter Anna McGuinness at Numurkah, we’re yet to see many democracy sausages across the region.

Reporter Murray Silby said it was “devastating” to arrive at Mooroopna Primary School to find no barbecue, while reports coming from St Brendan’s, St George’s Rd, Guthrie St, and Orrvale all report no sightings of #DemocracySausage.

Any party running on a pro-sausage sizzle platform would secure a 40-seat majority, I reckon. Make it happen.

UPDATE, 10.30am: ‘We’ll get a good one’: Big raps on candidates

Janelle and John Pottenger have had a chat to reporter Patrick Morrow at Orrvale this morning in the seat of Shepparton.

Janelle said her vote was guided by “thinking about the issues we’ve been going through at the moment, with the floods and so forth”.

John said he was excited by the candidates on offer.

“I think we’ve got some pretty strong candidates for the first time in a long time, we’ll get a good one,” he said.

“Healthcare is always an issue and you need more facilities in the rural sector, it’s hard to go down to Melbourne to see specialists.”

UPDATE, 10.10am: ‘Voters are over it’: Teasdale on the booths

Still in Numurkah, Freedom Party candidate Diane Teasdale had a quick chat to Anna McGuinness in between handing out how to vote cards.

She said she was “a little bit tired” after a long campaign, “but it’s nice getting out and meeting people”.

“For our resources and our people we were very happy with our campaign,” she said.

“We just want to get our message out there and we want to get the upper house candidate elected.”

She said people were “over” the election but one piece of feedback was coming through to her loud and clear.

“One sentiment I am getting strongly through so want to get rid of Daniel Andrews, and so do I. So if that happens, I'll be happy,” she said.

UPDATE, 9.50am: All hail the democracy sausage

While in Numurkah, reporter Anna McGuinness has found a “ripper” democracy snag thanks to Numurkah Rotary.

Phil Seager, Garry McNamara, Terry Brennan and Ivan Routley were at Numurkah Town Hall delivering the democracy sausages to the people

UPDATE, 9.35am: Kim O’Keeffe on the booths in Numurkah

Anna McGuinness has met with Nationals candidate Kim O’Keeffe in Numurkah who said she was “excited to be on the home stretch”.

“I feel I've had a really great campaign. I'm feeling positive. I think I've got a fantastic opportunity to actually get the seat,” Ms O’Keeffe said.

She said voters in Numurkah, had been “really positive” as well.

“I think people know that I work very hard and want to do the right thing for our region,” she said.

Ms O’Keeffe said after two weeks of prepolling in Shepparton and Mooroopna she would make an effort to head to some of the smaller towns around the electorate.

UPDATE, 9.20am: Cheryl casts vote for #HammerTime in Shepparton

Still in Shepparton, Liberal candidate Cheryl Hammer has cast her vote this morning at St Brendan’s Primary School, telling reporter Murray Silby she enjoyed voting for change.

“I genuinely believe there's real need for change both at the state level and at the local level,” she said.

“We've been hearing about how close it might be here locally, but I'm really buoyed by the fact that it's sounding like it's gonna be very close to the state level as well.”

She said this campaign felt “very different” to the last one she ran in 2018, and she felt there was a “real mood for change”.

She also gave a shout-out to the thousands of volunteers — working with candidates of all stripes on polling booths all across the electorate.

“It's been a really good campaign in terms of the feel of the campaign and the respect across the board.”

UPDATE, 8.55am: Shepparton incumbent ‘excited’ as voting opens

Incumbent Suzanna Sheed is at St George’s Rd Primary and said she was “very excited” as punters go to the polls.

Ms Sheed spoke to reporter Patrick Morrow and said she didn’t expect a quick result tonight as counting began.

“I think it’s a tough call, we’ve got three strong candidates and it won’t pan out too quickly,” Ms Sheed said.

“I don’t feel nervous at all, I feel excited. It’s a contest, and the winner gets to serve the community for the next four years.”

She said it was tough to say which way the poll would go overall across the state, but she she didn’t expect to be a sole kingmaker should she be re-elected into a hung parliament.

“I don’t expect I’d be the only independent. It’s unlikely to come down to one individual,” Ms Sheed said.

“It’s a great day with beautiful weather and everyone’s out and about, it’s the culmination of so much hard work and effort and incredible outcomes for our community in the last eight years.”

UPDATE, 8am: Officially off and running

It’s 8am and the polls have opened across the state. That means democracy sausages are also up for grabs - the best part of voting on election day.

UPDATE, 7.40am: The state of play across Victoria

Good morning all, Max Stainkamph here with you this morning to guide you through the early parts of the day.

Riverine Herald editor Gregor MacTaggart has had a look at the overall state of play ahead of today’s vote, while yesterday I had a quick look at how the hotly-contested seat of Shepparton is expected to play out.

EARLIER: We’ve got everything you need to know before heading out to vote.

If you’re searching for somewhere to vote or a guide on how to vote in this election, here are links to stories from across the region telling you where and how to vote.

As for how to lodge your ballot, voters will be handed two pieces of paper when they vote: one smaller piece of paper with nine names (for the seat of Shepparton, for example) and boxes on it for the lower house, and a much larger piece of paper for the upper house.

Voters must number one to nine in order of their preference for their vote to count. Numbering just a few candidates or ticking a box will result in a vote being considered “informal”, meaning it won’t be counted.

The ballot for the upper house will be much bigger.

It will consist of boxes above the line to vote for parties, and lists of individual candidates below the line.

You can either place a ‘1’ in one box above the line and leave the rest of the paper blank, or you can place five or more numbers, in order of your preference, in the boxes below the line.