No surprise in this seat

By Bridget Brady and
THE Greens’ popularity surged in Holt on Saturday, but there were no surprises when Labor’s Anthony Byrne retained the seat.
Both major parties had swings recorded against them, with the Greens basking in about a 4.54 per cent swing with candidate Frank Di Mascolo.
Mr Byrne won the seat with about 55 per cent of the vote, ahead of the Liberals’ Ricardo Balancy with about 30 per cent of votes.
Mr Di Mascolo said he was extremely pleased with his results in Holt, and the overall success of the Greens nationwide.
“It was a very positive experience and I can only see that momentum growing in the future,” he said.
Mr Byrne, who has held the seat since 1999, said he was “very grateful” to the residents in Holt for the opportunity to continue to represent them in Federal Parliament.
“It’s a huge honour,” he said.
“I will continue to work on behalf of my constituents to deliver much-needed infrastructure in our community, job security and the best opportunities possible for our kids,” he said.
Mr Balancy said he was pleased with his results after a short campaign and was interested to find out the results of postal votes.
Mr Balancy said he would look into why some people did not receive his flyers in the mail.
“There were a lot of people who came to vote Liberal and still did not know who I was.”
He congratulated My Byrne for retaining his seat, but said issues still remained in Holt that needed to be addressed.
Mr Balancy said his campaign for the next election started now.