Daniel Andrews’ Labor Party and Matthew Guy’s Liberals remain neck and neck in target seats including Pakenham, Sunbury, Melton as Wayne Swan warned of a ‘desperately close’ result.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is bracing for what Labor Party president Wayne Swan has warned will be a “desperately close” election, as Liberal voter tracking suggests there is a 50-50 chance the poll could result in a minority government.
Premier Daniel Andrews, accompanied by his wife Catherine, takes questions from a young constituent at Westgarth Kindergarten in Northcote on the final day of the campaign.With the election appearing to rest on the results of seats including Pakenham, Sunbury, Melton and treasurer Tim Pallas’ seat of Werribee, pollsters are predicting the primary vote of both major parties will fall to record lows, while independents could climb from three to six seats and the Greens from three to five or six.
“I think it’s a bridge too far, really, for the Liberal Party on this occasion,” Mr Bracks said. “Yes, there will be swings against Labor. You would expect there to be.“But in the end, I think it will be a reduced majority. But a majority Labor government.”“I think there is a chance we can still win it, I know it sounds absurd, but I do,” he told. “This time it’s about Daniel Andrews’ style of leadership. It’s a long shot, but it has been done a couple of times before.
Former Victorian premiers Jeff Kennett, Ted Baillieu, Steve Bracks and John Brumby. Bracks says Labor will hold on despite a swing against it, but Kennett sees the 1999 upset being repeated.The Liberals are targeting a grab bag of suburban seats and believe that they could flip six or more Labor seats. Together with a predicted six independent seats and five Greens seats, Labor would lose 11 seats and face a minority.
Speaking in Northcote, where Labor is under threat from the Greens, Mr Andrews said he would not do any deal with the Greens to hold power.“My position on that hasn’t changed,” Mr Andrews said on Friday. “No deal will be offered, and no deal will be done.Wayne Swan says the Victorian election will be “desperately close”.
But the Liberal candidate in the tightly contested seat of Hawthorn, John Pesutto, a potential party leader if Mr Guy loses, agreed there will be an anti-Andrews backlash.
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