Sorry about my absence here folks! Have been out tonight but have been watching the results closely.
Has definitely been an emphatic victory for Labor, surprisingly so. It's nice in a sense, as Daniel Andrews said, that Victorians were baited by the kind of ugly, divisive politics that we saw from the Liberal party. They took a really negative strategy to the election that, as above, probably didn't sit too well with the more moderate Matthew Guy. It's an interesting reminder that strongly progressive governments can actually be popular in western countries. As far as I'm aware, it hasn't been discussed a lot tonight, but the Liberals tried a populist approach at this election, whereas Labor were far less populist in their approach. A bit heartening given the events around the world.
Surprised by the lack of the swing against the Greens. I think it sort of proves that a lot of those Greens voters, once they've left, probably won't come back to the Labor party. Both federally and at the state level the Labor party has decisively shifted to the left and hasn't really picked up much support from the Greens. A shift of one percent is a fair chunk of the Greens support, but given their pathetic handling of the candidate for Footscray and the progressiveness of the current government, I'm surprised it was so little. Glad that Labor won back Northcote. Lidia Thorpe came to speak to us at our student conference and she was genuinely appalling. That's not, of course, to say that she's without talent; but her views were abhorrent. Don't mind so much about Ellen Sandell (Melbourne), who I've also heard speak and found quite convincing if I'm honest.
Interesting that the swings appeared to be largest in the inner east. Think seats like Caulfield, Hawthorn, Albert Park, Richmond and perhaps less so in the outer suburbs. Surprising given that the Labor campaign seemed to be geared so strongly to the outer suburbs (focusing on health, education and transport) and the Liberal campaign, really, should have hit harder in the inner suburbs, where crime rates are generally higher. It appears the reverse happened.
On a final note: Darryn Lyons was expected to give the seat of Geelong a good run. He didn't. There was a small swing against Labor towards Darryn Lyons in the seat; however, it was still an emphatic victory there. I cannot overstate how important this result is. Darryn Lyons has a lot of currency in Geelong and certainly has strong support. He's seen down here as an underdog who gets things done for the city. A more careful analysis of his record though reveals that he was a bully without the policy acumen to deal with the rigours of council let alone state parliament and who systematically abused his position to further his own brand, at the detriment of the city. Glad he got kicked to the curb.
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