DESPITE DISASTER, GAY SEATS STAY IN ALP HANDS

Despite the Labor party’s dismal showing in Saturday’s federal election, two of the ALP’s most pro-active campaigners for gay and lesbian rights managed to increase their vote.
Sydney’s Tanya Plibersek gained 2.4 per cent, beating the Liberal candidate Michael Shevers by a huge margin. In Grayndler, Anthony Albanese polled 52.4 per cent of the primary vote and beat the Liberal party’s Stephanie Kokkolis by 73.2 per cent to 26.8 per cent after preferences.
The Greens did not perform as well as expected in either seat. Sydney candidate Jenny Leong was widely tipped to come second ahead of the Liberals, giving her a serious chance of taking the seat.
In reality, Leong polled almost 4000 votes less than the Liberal candidate. Grayndler’s Green Philip Myers also came third, polling 2000 less than Stephanie Kokkolis. Both Myers and Leong increased the Greens vote.
The results were the same in Melbourne, where two other seats the Greens had expressed hopes for -“ Melbourne and Melbourne Ports -“ saw increased Greens votes but not the significant change required to overtake the Liberal Party.
Meantime the Liberal Brisbane candidate Ingrid Tall, an openly-lesbian doctor, lost her bid to take the seat away from the ALP.