Sex Party close to winning first seat

SEX industry lobbyist Fiona Patten could be catapulted into the Legislative Council to share the balance of power with the Greens, after a surprise twist in the re-check of votes put her within a breath of taking the final Northern Metro region seat.

With a third of votes re-checked, the Greens were polling almost 20 per cent in the seat, well over a quota. If sustained, this would knock out independent Stephen Mayne, but open the door for Ms Patten, leader of the Sex Party.

She now trails Labor by just 0.1 per cent at the point where one or other must be eliminated. If she can overtake Labor, she will defeat the Liberals on Labor preferences.

The re-check has put the Country Alliance back on track to win in Northern Victoria from the Coalition, although it is still too close to call, while Greens MLC Colleen Hartland looks likely to narrowly lose her Western Metro seat in a three-way contest with the Liberals and Labor.

The Coalition is on track to win 20 seats in the 40-member council, Labor 17, the Greens two and the Country Alliance one. If Ms Patten wins, the Coalition will drop to 19.