The PM is on the nose in Melbourne’s inner east as voters cite inequality and pandemic failures – and a redistribution has put the Greens in a strong position
conceded he was a “bit of a bulldozer” and vowed to change the way he behaved if re-elected. But for voters in the marginal seat of Higgins, in Melbourne’s inner east, it’s too little too late.
“We live in a society not an economy. So yes, I’m a business owner but my concerns are more broadly for society,” she says. “I’m really, really worried what will happen to the country if it’s three more years of this.” “I saw the premier [Daniel Andrews] say recently that it seemed like the Liberal party thought that they were having a potshot at the, but they weren’t, they were having a go at Victorians and he’s right,” she said. “I took it personally. It has definitely swayed my vote.”
Dr Katie Allen managed to retain the seat for the Liberals but her margin slipped to just 3.9%. Following a redistribution ahead of this election, in which Higgins lost part of Glen Iris and all of Hughesdale but gained Windsor, her margin has shrunk further, to 2.6%. Greens candidate Sonya Semmens says the seat redistribution has helped her chances in a three-cornered contest.As for Labor, despite vowing to focus on traditional mortgage-belt seats such as Chisholm after the 2019 loss, the party is again pulling out all the stops in Higgins: an avalanche of election material, targeted social media advertising and guest appearances by the former prime minister Kevin Rudd and Labor frontbenchers Penny Wong, Tanya Plibersek and Claire O’Neil.
“What they have in Scott is a person with no legacy and no agenda for the future and that’s pretty evident. And, they’re sick of the sloganeering,” she says.