Anti-vax mandate policies prove to be no vote winner with Australians – this time

Anti-vaccine mandate protesters rally outside NSW Parliament House in Sydney in March. Many political parties and candidates sought to leverage this movement at the 2022 Australian election. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Anti-vaccine mandate policies don’t appear to have been a major vote winner at the federal election, with candidates and minor parties opposed to Australia’s Covid jab rules largely unsuccessful.

Despite first preference votes for the two major parties hitting record lows and the doubling of the crossbench, candidates or parties with anti-mandate policies did not pick up any seats.