Australian Labor Party Wins Victorian Elections

The Labor Party victory at the Victorian elections on Saturday, November 29, opens the door for Greek-Australian MP Jenny Mikakos to become Minister.

Mikakos is expected to be sworn as Minister in the Victorian state government that will be formed by newly elected Prime Minister Daniel Andrews later this week. She will be the first Greek-Australian woman to occupy a ministerial post on a federal and state level.

In regards to the elections, the Labor Party gathered 58.5% of the votes, earning at least 47 seats out of a total of 88. Meanwhile, the Liberal-National Coalition got 37 seats and the Greens won at least one seat. Some seats remain equivocal.

This is the first time that the Greens have managed to win a seat in the State House.

The shift in favor of the Labor Party amounted to 2.5%, while the Liberal Party fell by 1.8% and the National Party by 1.2%.

As for the senate, the situation appears confusing, however it is certain that the Labor Party will not have the majority, which means that it will be difficult to implement their program.

In the “Greek battle” of Oakleigh, Labor Party candidate Steve Dimopoulos prevailed over Liberal Theo Zographos.

The new parliament will include several members of the Greek Diaspora. 25 Greek-Australians, including Andrew Katos (Liberal Party) and Nick Staikos (Labor Party), have been voted into the parliament, while Jenny Mikakos, Philip Dalidakis (Labor Party) and Lee Tarlamis (Labor Party) will be part of the Senate.

Former Greek-Australian Ministers Nicholas Kotsiras and Giannis Pantazopoulos will not be part of the new parliament. Kotsiras’ post in Bulleen will be passed on to Matthew Guy who won this year’s elections and might be the next leader of the Liberal Party in Victoria.