Nationals still in the fight and threatening to clinch shock victory in core Victorian Labor seat

Sky News AU

07-05-2025

The Nationals are threatening to produce a shock victory in the core Labor seat of Bendigo, with the seat firmly held by the major party since 1998.
Despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's resounding election victory, counting in the once ironclad Labor seat of Bendigo in regional Victoria has slowed, with the Nationals a stone throw away from securing an upset result.
Nationals candidate Andew Lethlean, a well-known local bar operator is now trailing incumbent Labor MP Lisa Chesters by 1009 votes, with the two-party preferred count sitting at 50.72 to 49.28 per cent.
However, at 2pm on Wednesday Mr Lethlean was sitting 808 votes ahead of Ms Chesters with the Nationals receiving a 29.6 per cent swing on first preferences.
Ms Chesters is doing better-than-expected on postal votes though, which traditionally favour conservative candidates as Mr Lethlean leads postal votes 51-49 on a two-party preferred measure.
Labor has firmly held the seat since 1998 with Ms Chesters heading into the 2025 election on a sizeable margin of 12 per cent.
Bendigo was one of the seats where preference voting had to be reset after the AEC included Labor and the Liberals in the two-party preferred count on election night, instead of Labor and the Nationals.
The Nationals have not run a candidate in Bendigo since 2016 receiving only 3.63 per cent of primary votes, with the party last holding the seat in 1949.
Ms Chesters still remains a strong chance to hold as the vote count continues to significantly stall, with a two-candidate preferred only completed for 23 of the 66 polling places and 69.25% of ballet papers processed.
The Nationals are believed to have poured nearly $1 million into the seat and ran a targeted campaign tying Ms Chesters to Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, who holds the state seat of Bendigo East.
The Nationals spent more money in the electorate than anywhere else in Victoria and pursued extensive letterboxing campaigns, with one unnamed Labor figure telling The Age 'What the hell is going on in Bendigo?'
During the campaign Mr Lethlean came under fire after it was reported a bar he owned sold alcohol while its license was suspended.
Mr Lethlean said the suspension was the result of an 'administrative oversight' and stated the annual license fee was paid as soon as the issue was identified.
Unlike their Liberal counterparts, the Nationals secured re-election in nine out of ten of their lower house seats, losing Calare in NSW to independent Andrew Gee who quit the party in late 2022 due to the Coalition's stance on the Voice.
With the country party now making up a larger percentage of the Coalition due to the Liberals catastrophic loss, Nationals MP Michael McCormack told the ABC his party would be calling for more shadow ministries.
'It's worked out on a per capita basis with how many seats you hold as part of a joint number in the Coalition,' Mr McCormack said
The Riverina MP, who retained his seat with a 3.3 per cent swing also advised the Liberals to keep their grievances to their party room.
'Anonymous Liberal people who so often background and brief journalists in Canberra, shut your bloody mouths,' he said.