Newly returned local members Hugh Jones, Toni Buti and Yaz Mubarakai painted the town red on Saturday after convincing wins over their opposition.
All three celebrated their success at a combined party at the Armadale District Bowling Club.
The result for Darling Range shocked a few analysts who had predicted a tight race. It was anything but.
With two-thirds of the votes counted, Hugh Jones has recorded an almost 42 percent primary vote, becoming the only Labor member to have won back-to-back victories in what used to be a safe Liberal seat.
His rival, the Liberals’ Paul Mansfield, managed just over half of that with around 24 percent.
The rest of the vote was fairly evenly distributed amongst the many minor party candidates with the biggest upward swing of the seat going to One Nation’s Liam John Heerema (with 8.3 percent of primary votes).
Mr Jones, surrounded by his family, toasted his win with a lemon, lime and bitters.
“I am humbled and grateful that the people of Darling Range have placed their trust in me to continue to represent our incredible community,” he said.
“It is a great privilege and one I will never take for granted.
“I am thankful to my hard-working team and amazing volunteers who gave freely of their time and energy to support my campaign, and, of course, for the encouragement of so many people in our community.
“We go into politics to make a difference, and I acknowledge the hard work of my opposition candidates over the campaign period and wish them well in the future.”
Member for Armadale Tony Buti’s seat was never in contention; Mr Buti won the seat on primary votes alone. With two-thirds of the votes counted, he leads Liberal Party candidate Jason McNamara 67 percent to 33 percent on two-party preferred.
“I am honoured to have retained my seat in state parliament and deeply grateful to the people of Armadale for placing their trust in me once again,” Mr Buti said.
“As we move into the next term of government, I am excited to build on the progress we’ve made—creating jobs, providing cost of living relief, and delivering key infrastructure projects that are driving growth and opportunity in the electorate of Armadale.
“I remain committed to working tirelessly for our community, always focused on listening, working hard, and delivering meaningful results for the people I serve.”
Meanwhile Yaz Mubarakai has become the first member for the new seat of Oakford. Like Hugh Jones, Mr Mubarakai’s primary vote is currently almost double that of his nearest rival, Liberal Tait Marston.
“A big thank you to all the residents of Oakford for your continued support and trust in me and WA Labor,” he said.
“I’m committed to serving each and every one of you to ensure our community continues to thrive as a wonderful place to live, work, and raise a family.”
Photographs – Richard Polden
