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Andrew Gee won Calare easily, but a massive haircut awaits + eight more take outs from Saturday
May 22, 2022
By Peter Holmes
Well that's done and dusted for another three years. Here are a few take outs from Saturday's election.
1. Nearly four in every 100 votes in Calare were informal.
2. Andrew Gee has held his seat easily, however the win comes at significant cost.
Not only is Gee no longer a minister and no longer in government, but his pay packet will be slashed from a minister's salary of about $364,000 a year to a backbencher's of about $211,000.
Shadow ministers, however, receive a loading of 20 or 25 percent of the base, so if Gee retains his shadow ministry there will be significant gravy.
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3. Less than nine percent of the Calare preferences had been counted at the time of writing on Sunday night, meaning we won't know for a bit exactly how we all voted.
However the eight percent or so of preferences already counted show a slightly increased majority for Andrew Gee with 65 percent of the two-party preferred vote, up from 63 percent at the 2019 election.
4. Calare remains a very conservative seat.
Despite all the talk about young people engaging, moderate tree changers moving in and a mood for change on climate action, just about nothing really changed.
Give or take, two thirds of the electorate voted conservative, and one-third progressive.
5. Given her shortage of volunteers, and her party's lack of spending compared to Clive Palmer's UAP, One Nation candidate and Bathurst real estate agent Stacey Whittaker surprised many by attracting 8.3 percent of the first preference votes.
6. United Australia Party candidate Adam Jannis attracted 3.71 percent of first preferences (3,674 votes).
According to the Australian Electoral Commission: "Election funding of $2.91 per vote is payable in relation to any candidate or group who receives at least four per cent of the total first preference votes in an election".
7. From a standing start a few months ago independent candidate Kate Hook attracted a smidge over one in every five first preference votes (20,394).
She worked tirelessly for those votes, but fell way short of where she needed to be.
Coaxing thousands of rusted-on Nats voters to shift their allegiance from Gee was always going to be a near-impossible task. Ultimately, many votes for Hook came from Labor and Greens types, which proved of no use.
8. ALP HQ did what it needed to win the seats around Australia that mattered. That meant siphoning money from unwinnable seats such as Calare to marginals.
Midwife Sarah Elliott, the ALP candidate for Calare, comes from classic Labor stock and seems to understand the stresses facing everyday workers. She will be disappointed at being given so little time and resources to make a case.
9. At the Glenroi Heights Public School booth Andrew Gee won 38 percent of first preferences, with Kate Hook getting 22 percent and Labor 19 percent.
At the Millthorpe Public School booth Gee won 48 percent of first preferences, Kate Hook 33 percent and Labor six percent.
At Orange Public School Gee had 39 percent of first preferences, with Kate Hook close behind on 34 percent and Labor on 12 percent.
At Trunkey Public School Gee got 63 percent of first preferences, One Nation's Stacey Whittaker came second with 15 percent and Hook received 10 percent.
Yeoval Central School saw Gee win 65 percent of first preferences, Whittaker 11 percent and Hook six percent.
At Lithgow Public School Gee won 33 percent of the vote, Labor's Elliot 26 percent and Hook 18 percent.
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