Sitting Member for Nicholls, The Nationals’ Damian Drum, overwhelmingly won the seat again and wants to see the question of water rights for farmers resolved.
First elected in 2016, the 58-year-old has received 52.17 per cent of the votes cast to date, with 81.98 per cent of the vote counted.
The Australian Labor Party’s Bill Lodwick has 16,260 votes followed by Rikkie-Lee Tyrell of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party with 9,607 votes.
Mr Drum told the Yarrawonga Chronicle he thanks the community for their support and “the amazing volunteers”.
“The main issue is water – irrigation water. “We need to start that conversation straight away,” he said. “The main concern is the unfair amount of water out of agriculture for the environment.
“We need to keep pressuring mainstream Sydney and Melbourne, so that everybody understands the serious situation we have.
“We need to engage with the states. They have control of about 90 per cent of water policy.”
When asked about Yarrawonga specifically, Mr Drum referred to project work and the need to lock in a route for the new Yarrawonga Mulwala Traffic Bridge.
“I eagerly await the result as to what the people of Mulwala will say as to their preferred route. Then we need to get to the two states together and really pursue the matter.”
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