Strictly Ballroom actor Paul Mercurio has received the seat of Hastings within the Victorian election.
The race for the seat of Hastings on the Mornington Peninsula was referred to as for Mr Mercurio and the Labor Party by ABC election skilled Antony Green on Friday afternoon.
Mr Mercurio is greatest recognized for his position as Scott Hastings within the cult Baz Lurhmann basic Strictly Ballroom.
The 59-year-old informed NCA NewsWire earlier than the election that he was armed with a mission to place his expertise to good use.
“I was a restaurateur, I’ve done work for plumbers, I’ve done all sorts of things. As an actor in this country, you don’t just act all the time,” he mentioned.
“You have to do a lot of things to pay the mortgage and put food on the table. I think the good thing about that is that I have a fairly healthy lived experience.”
“I was a little bit frustrated that I couldn’t do enough on council, which is why I decided to go for state. If I could do more as a state MP, then I would be more grateful,” he mentioned.
Labor retained energy in 2018 in what was dubbed a “Danslide”. The Daniel Andrews-led celebration claimed a 10-seat majority with 55 of the 88 decrease home electorates.
The Coalition received simply 27 seats – lower than half of Labor’s – whereas the Greens and independents every claimed three.
Mr Mercurio ran in opposition to 29-year-old former Greg Hunt staffer Briony Hutton, who hoped to retain the semirural seat for the Liberal Party.
Mr Mercurio mentioned he believed his tenure within the highlight gave him a bonus when getting into the political enviornment.
“I think at the end of the day, I’ve got a voice. And I think as an actor and as a dancer and being to some extent on the world stage, as a performer, I have a voice and I can use that,” he mentioned.
“I guess the decision to use it for really positive outcomes is the driving thing.
“I think being famous, or notorious, or however you want to put it, people are interested in your thoughts, and from that I’ve found by engaging with people in the community or on TV or even TV shows, you can help and I would rather help people in a positive way.”
