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The Bullet Train for Canberra is intending to run candidates in next year’s federal election, having gained more than 4 per cent of the vote at this weekend’s ACT election thus far. ‘‘It wasn’t a result that any of us would have expected,’’ party secretary Michael Lemmey said. ‘‘We’re exceedingly happy with the result. We were hoping to get around 3 to 4 per cent of the vote. It’s exceeded our expectations.’’ Having gained 4.1 per cent of the vote thus far from a broad spectrum of Canberrans, Mr Lemmey said their preferences were likely to go to all three of the major parties. ‘‘We’ve noticed we attracted voters from across the spectrum so it’s probably going to be a nice spread across the parties,’’ he said. ‘‘It will probably be a little but to the left, given the way we sold ourselves.’’ The unexpected success has also buoyed the party’s hopes of a foray into the national arena. Party members took to Facebook earlier this afternoon, calling for more recruits to meet the 500 members to register for the federal election. Their current count stands at 160. Mr Lemmey said yesterday’s vote was just the beginning for the party. ‘‘We are already planning not only for the next election in four years, but we’re actually planning to go national,’’ he said. ‘‘This is only just the beginning for the Bullet Train for Canberra party. There are people out there who would like to see us become a reality, and high speed rail to become a reality.’’

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