Scanlon leads charge as Coast block
ABOUT 100 people who had crammed into a small function room peppered with red balloons at the Parkwood Tavern on Saturday night had only one name on their lips.
“Meaghan, Meaghan, Meaghan,” they chanted as the young lawyer and Labor candidate for Gaven, Meaghan Scanlon, stood to address them.
The joint Labor postelection day party for the Gaven and Bonney electorates was wild with jubilation.
Celebrations were made by not just the thought of Labor finally breaking the LNP’s “blue block” in Gaven but also by pulling back ground in previously safe seats such as Burleigh and Theodore.
“It really shows people on the Gold Coast are sick and tired of wall to wall LNP,” Ms Scanlon told the crowd.
Down the road at Nerang RSL the mood was grim.
Incumbent, Gaven MP Sid Cramp, was sitting in a small function room with his eyes glued to his smartphone, watching the results come in.
Pausing briefly for hugs from family members and supporters, the shell-shocked MP kept his own counsel, walking the room and occasionally turning his eyes towards two televisions broadcasting live coverage.
Just before 9pm the mood lifted briefly as television political analysts turned to Gaven and declared Mr Cramp to be slightly ahead on the primary vote. A crowd of around 50 supports clapped.
The mood of young LNP colleague Sam O’Connor, in the neighbouring seat of Bonney, as more upbeat.
Knocking back half a glass of beer before a TV cross, Mr O’Connor responded positively to text messages showing voting trends.
About 80 “blue” volunteers erupted when Mr O’Connor told the assembled crowd at