Hopes have dimmed of securing a Legalise Cannabis representative in the senate after a recent swing towards Labor, as votes in the federal election continue to be counted.
While still in the running to secure the sixth and final seat in Victoria, LCP candidate Fiona Patten said the voting trend over the last 24 hours “has not been my friend”.
“I am still in the running but I really needed to see my vote go up and Labor’s go down and the opposite has happened in the past 24 hours,” she said. “The trend has not been my friend.”
Countrywide, including in Victoria, the Legalise Cannabis Party has attracted around 4% of the vote so far in both the lower and upper house elections, up from 3% in 2022.
“This is a 25% increase which is nothing to be sneezed at,” Patten said.
She added that a “confident Labor government could be good for the industry” if there is also a “progressive senate”.
“Whether that’s me or the Greens, it opens the door for that fundamental change that we talked about going into the election,” Patten said.
The final results may not be known until late next week.
Cannabiz will provide a detailed rundown on the performance of the Legalise Cannabis Party once the count has been completed.
