Australian Greens face uncertain result in federal election
Greens face prospect that election result will not lead to gains https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jul/03/greens-ponder-australian-election-vote-which-will-probably-not-lead-to-gains Melbourne MP Adam Bandt was re-elected, while in the Senate a loss in South Australia could be balance by gain in Queensland Melissa Davey The Greens are struggling to pick up extra lower house seats targeted in Sydney and Melbourne where supporters were hoping for an upset and look set to return to parliament with the same number of senators the party had in the previous term.
Melbourne MP Adam Bandt was comfortably elected for a third time but as it stands he remains the lone Green in the House of Representatives, while in the Senate, the party has lost Robert Simms in South Australia but looks to gain a Senator in Queensland.
But Greens leader Richard Di Natale was high-spirited on Sunday, saying the party maintained hopes for taking the Victorian seats of Melbourne Ports and Batman from Labor, which remain too close to call. The party stood candidates in all 150 lower house seats across the country, with party sources claiming there has been a national swing towards them of around 2%.
However, Australian Electoral Commission figures have the party with 9.9% of the lower house vote, representing a swing towards them of 1.3%.
“We have had an extraordinary result in terms of the Greens vote across the country and certainly here in Victoria in some key seats,” Di Natale said.
“What we’ve seen in some states like Victoria is a swing higher than our national average. Victoria clearly is a powerhouse for the Australian Greens right now.”
Di Natale said early on in the election campaign he believes the seats that will turn to the Greens within the next decade include Batman, Wills, Kooyong, Melbourne Ports, and the Liberal seat of Higgins in Victoria, Grayndler, Wentworth, Sydney, and Richmond in NSW, and Fremantle in Western Australia.
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The following are the current figures for the Greens:
HoR – Australia
2010 11.8%
2013 8.7%
2016 9.9%
HoR – SA
2010 12%
2013 8.3%
2016 6.0%
Senate – Australia
2010 13.1%
2013 8.7%
2016 ?
Senate – SA
2010 13.3%
2013 7.1%
2016 5.7%
Think I’ve got these right, but be happy to be informed of any errors.
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Just crunched the 2016 Senate numbers for the Greens and get an Australian-wide total of 13.2%, which is essentially the same as in 2010.
That seems like a reasonable outcome, considering how much ground the Greens lost (along with ALP) in the 2013 election. But it does mean that a precious 6 years have been lost along the way.
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