Independent Peter George has secured more than 23% of the vote in Franklin, signalling what he describes as a changing tide in Tasmanian politics.
With 60% of ballots counted, Labor’s Julie Collins held 39.1% of the vote compared to George’s 23%, pointing to a likely Labor victory.
“The tide has changed in Franklin. This is our Tasmania. This is our Franklin,” George said.
“Whether the old parties realise it or not, that if they don’t listen to us, they’re going to become increasingly irrelevant.”
The count shows the Liberal Party at 17.4%, while One Nation has secured 4.9% of votes counted thus far.
The Greens candidate Owen Fitzgerald, who had to drop out of the race over citizenship issues, received 10.5%.
“What a disaster for the Greens. What a disaster for poor Owen, who’s got a great future,” he said.
George, who has campaigned strongly on local issues, particularly against salmon farming operations, vowed to continue advocating for Tasmanian interests.
“We’re going to become increasingly noisy and angry and increasingly determined to tell the multinationals, particularly those awful multinational salmon farms, that Tasmania belongs to Tasmanians,” he said.
