With Daniel Andrews’ face plastered on both Labor and Liberal corflutes on the way into polling booths, voters have braved the wet weather to kick off early voting in Victoria’s state election.
Some waited for hours – damp but determined – as the Victorian Electoral Commission partly blamed issues with printing ballot papers for Monday’s delays.
On the sidelines of the queue the Liberal candidate for Box Hill, Nicole Werner, had an energy that belied the weather.
Earlier on Monday morning, the Herald Sun published the results of a Redbridge poll suggesting the Coalition’s primary vote is tied with Labor’s at 38%, once the undecided vote is redistributed. While it suggests a tightening race, Labor is ahead of the Coalition on a two-party-preferred basis, at 54.5% to 46.5%.
But a narrowing Labor lead has given the Liberals more hope to win back the seats of Box Hill, Bayswater and Ringwood, in Melbourne’s east.
The seats unexpectedly fell to Labor in the 2018 election, in a result that saw an above-average swing to the Andrews government in the 11 electorates set to benefit from the Suburban Rail Loop – one of the most contentious issues of this year’s state election.
Werner said the Liberal party could snatch back Box Hill, which it held for 26 years before last election’s “Danslide”.
“I certainly view it as winnable … there is a lot of strong sentiment for change,” she said.
Werner’s parents helped her hand out how-to-vote cards – her father wearing an “I’m Nicole’s dad” badge – as about 40 people gathered outside the Box Hill town hall, where the ballot papers arrived by truck at 9.30am.
The corflutes of the major parties bear images of Andrews – a nod to the fact both parties believe the divisive nature of the state’s leader can be harnessed for their own political advantage. The opposition is determined to make the election a referendum on the premier and his government’s handling of the pandemic.
Longtime Labor voter and Box Hill resident Greg Bourke, 69, acknowledged there was some anti-Andrews sentiment in the electorate, but says “nobody’s perfect”.
“The Liberals are so appalling. Labor would have to get a lot worse before I’d even think about changing,” he said.
Box Hill’s Labor MP, Paul Hamer, was nearby, spruiking the government’s record on education and infrastructure as he weaved in and out of the queue of voters..
Hamer said the Andrews government’s $42m investment in schools in the electorate over his term and level crossing removals in Surrey Hills and Mont Albert were some of the party’s big achievements for the electorate.
He also hoped there was still strong support the Suburban Rail Loop, despite the state’s auditor general concluding its business case overstated its financial benefits.
Will Fowles, Labor’s candidate for Ringwood, which is held by the party on a notional 3.2% margin, was adamant the anti-Andrews sentiment has been overhyped.
“What I’ve been hearing on the doors is that people think we did a pretty good job throughout the pandemic,” he said.
The Liberal candidate for the nearby seat of Ashwood, Asher Judah, said most residents in his electorate were frustrated the government could have planning powers over the area within a 1.6km radius from each proposed station under the project.
But for Joel, a business owner from Box Hill, the pandemic and its associated lockdowns was behind his support for Werner.
“I’m voting for business, I’m voting for my kids and what we experienced during lockdowns,” he said.
Greens voter Mary Walker, 43, said many political parties have a “ridiculous fixation” on Andrews.
“We went through probably the hardest time of our lives over the last three years, no one knew what was going to happen,” Walker said.
“We didn’t have a vaccine and everyone’s just smashing this guy who tried to do the best he could with the best advice that he had.”
