Nicholls votes Damian Drum for second term

DRUM KEEPS HIS TEMPO… Damian Drum celebrated his re-election with The Nationals over the weekend, comfortably securing his seat with 52 percent of the first preference vote. Photos: Supplied.

The community set out to voting on the weekend and elected Damian Drum to represent Nicholls (formerly Murray) for his second term in federal parliament.

The Nationals member secured his seat with a formidable majority, receiving over 52 percent of the first preference vote. At the time of our publication, Mr Drum had 44,457 first preference votes, topping Labor Party’s Bill Lodwick with 16,260 first preference votes, with 82 percent of votes counted.

Tallying up the preference votes, Mr Drum secured 71 percent of the total preference count, with 60,506 votes and a positive swing of 19.5 percent.

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation candidate Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell recorded the third highest number of votes, securing 9,607 first preference votes. United Australia’s Stewart Hine was next up, receiving 4,513 first preference votes, followed by The Greens’ Nickee Freeman with 3,109.

The remaining votes were split evenly between Independent candidates Jeremy Parker and Nigel Hicks, receiving 1,500 and 1,494 first preference votes respectively.

The 2019 election marked the first time locals voted in the Nicholls electorate, after becoming re-named. The electorate had been named Murray since its inception in 1949. The newly re-named and redistributed electorate of Nicholls extends along the Victorian middle reaches of the Murray River from Yarrawonga in the east, to downstream of Echuca. The electorate now also extends south as far as Seymour and Broadford, covering 14,768 square kilometres in total.

Damian Drum also returns to his seat with a re-elected Coalition government, and the incumbent MP promises to place water at the forefront of the agenda.