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Dan Andrews is expected to secure a third term as Victoria’s premier despite a swipe at the Labor party, according to a new poll.
The Newspoll release suggests the Labor government will retain 45 to 50 of the 55 seats in the 88-seat parliament. The two-party poll puts Labor at 54.5 to 45.5.
If the poll is correct, this would represent a 2.8% swing from Labor since 2018, but it would also mean a slim majority for Andrews.
Dan Andrews is expected to secure a third term as Victoria’s premier, according to a new poll
On Friday, Mr Andrews and Liberal leader Matthew Guy made their final pitches to undecided voters as Victorians go to the polls in the state election
Labour’s primary vote is at 38 per cent and Matthew Guy’s Coalition at 35 per cent. The Greens are at 12 percent and the Independents at 15 percent, according to the poll in favour the Australian.
It bodes well for Mr Andrews, who has come under intense scrutiny during his tenure and the handling of the Covid pandemic.
There have even been suggestions that he could be ousted from government by his own voters as voters in the traditional Labor stronghold turn out en masse to support his independent rival.
Independent Ian Cook was treated to royal status on Thursday as early voters arrived to vote in Mulgrave, the traditionally safe seat of the Victorian prime minister.
Located just across the highway from Mr Andrews’ polling station, Daily Mail Australia visited the early voting center in the Mulgrave precinct, southeast of Melbourne’s CBD, to conduct its own mini-survey of the masses.
The results indicated a bleak outlook for the prime minister’s chances of retaining his seat, with no person polled by Daily Mail Australia indicating they would vote for Andrews.
The prime minister himself was unwilling to appear before voters in his constituency, instead leaving his own ballot early in another electorate in the city – saying he was ‘busy’ on Saturday.
Mr Andrews shared a photo on Thursday of him voting early in Melbourne’s CBD.
On Friday, Mr. Andrews and Mr. Guy make their final pitches to undecided voters as Victorians head to the polls for state elections.
The Prime Minister focused on Labor’s promises to bring back state-owned energy and make it childfree, while Guy highlighted the Coalition’s plans to restore the health system and ease cost-of-living pressures.
Neither could resist taking one last swipe at each other as the curtains drew on an sometimes ugly campaign.
Victorian Prime Minister Dan Andrews as he appeared during Victoria’s six lockdowns
“Let’s build projects, let’s not cancel them,” Andrews told reporters on Friday.
“All those jobs, all those skills, all those renewables and that downward pressure on bills will only happen if our Labor government is re-elected.”
Andrews saved his last campaign call for the seat of Northcote, which Labor held by a margin of 1.7 per cent, but one of Melbourne’s many outback voters was under threat from the Greens.
He revealed election sweeteners for the 11th hour to invest $116 million to build six engineering schools and a $24 million boost to kindergartens.
In his second attempt to snatch the top job from Mr Andrews after the 2018 ‘Danslide’, Mr Guy said the state needed a change of course.
“My opponent, he’s been out all week… Apparently I’m responsible for everything that’s happened that’s gone on in the world in the last 20 years,” he told reporters as he made a tourist announcement on Ballarat’s Sovereign Hill.
Before the release of Newspoll, the latest polls indicated Labor could lose between eight and 12 seats, potentially forcing it into a minority government.
Veteran election analyst Malcolm Mackerras previously predicted Labor will lose a net 12 seats in the November 26 election (metropolitan area voter maps pictured to show predictions)
Labor could also potentially lose the naval seat of South Barwon, near Geelong, along with Nepean’s seat on the Mornington Peninsula, as the safe Labor seat of Melton in Melbourne’s outer west moves to an independent state .
Needing 18 seats to form a government, Mr Guy was optimistic about causing a storm and proving the naysayers wrong.
It’s easy, with all due respect, for those who aren’t in politics to think this can’t be done. But I can tell you it can be done,’ he said.
The aspiring prime minister had no questions about staying on as Liberal leader in the event of another loss and assisted shadow treasurer David Davis.
Mr. Davis did not initially provide an overall estimate of the cost of the coalition’s electoral policies, but Mr. Guy guaranteed that he would serve as treasurer if the coalition were elected.
Nearly two million Victorians out of 4.4 million registered voted early, with the Victorian Electoral Commission warning it could delay results on election night.
Those votes are counted in 155 early centers, while the rest are counted in 1,700 Election Day locations.
The committee aims to count 75 percent of votes over the weekend, with absent votes counted next week.
Some 600,000 votes have been mailed, but only 270,000 have returned so far before Saturday’s 6pm deadline.