2018 Victorian state election

The 2018 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 24 November 2018 to elect the 59th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly (lower house) and all 40 seats in the Legislative Council (upper house) were up for election. The first-term incumbent Labor government, led by Premier Daniel Andrews, won a second four-year term, defeating the Liberal/National Coalition opposition, led by Opposition Leader Matthew Guy[1] in a landslide victory. Minor party the Greens led by Samantha Ratnam also contested the election.

2018 Victorian state election

← 2014 24 November 2018 2022 →

All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly
All 40 seats in the Victorian Legislative Council
45 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Daniel Andrews Matthew Guy Samantha Ratnam
Party Labor Liberal/National Coalition Greens
Leader since 3 December 2010 4 December 2014 12 October 2017
Leader's seat Mulgrave Bulleen MLC for Northern
Metropolitan
Last election 47 seats 38 seats 2 seats
Seats before 45 37 3
Seats won 55 27 3
Seat change Increase 10 Decrease 10 Steady
First preference vote 1,506,460 1,236,912 376,470
Percentage 42.86% 35.20% 10.71%
Swing Increase 4.77 Decrease 6.80 Decrease 0.77
TPP 57.30% 42.70%
TPP swing Increase 5.31 Decrease 5.31

Results in each electorate.

Premier before election

Daniel Andrews
Labor

Premier after election

Daniel Andrews
Labor

Labor won 55 seats in the 88-seat Legislative Assembly, an increase of eight seats from the previous election in 2014, and a majority of 22 seats. This was the fifth time that a Labor government was re-elected in Victoria, and it tied Victorian Labor's second-best showing at the state level. The Coalition suffered an 11-seat swing against it, and won 27 seats. The Greens won 3 seats, a net increase of 1 seat since the last election though equal to the share of seats they held when the election was called. The remaining three seats on the crossbench were won by independents.[2] In the Legislative Council, Labor won 18 seats, three short of a majority. The Coalition won 11 seats, and the remaining 11 seats were won by a range of minor parties from across the political spectrum.[2]

Several days after Labor's victory, the Second Andrews Ministry was sworn in by the Governor and was notable for featuring an equal number of men and women.[3] The following week the Liberal Party elected Michael O'Brien leader of the party, who became Opposition Leader in the new parliament, after Guy had announced earlier he would stand down from the position.[4]

For the election, Victoria had compulsory voting and used majoritarian preferential voting in single-member seats for the Legislative Assembly, and Single transferable vote (STV) in multi-member seats for the proportionally represented Legislative Council. The Legislative Council had 40 members serving four-year terms, elected from eight electoral regions each with five members. With each region electing 5 members, the quota in each region for election, after distribution of preferences, was 16.7% (one-sixth) of the valid votes cast in that district. The election was conducted by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC), an independent body answerable to parliament.

Key dates

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Pursuant to the Electoral Act 2002, Victoria has had fixed terms, with all elections since the 2006 election held every four years on the last Saturday of November.[5][6] The incumbent government entered into caretaker mode at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, 30 October 2018, when writs were officially issued.[7]

Key dates for the election are:[8][9]

  • 30 October: Writs issued by the Governor of Victoria
  • 31 October: Opening of nominations for all candidates
  • 6 November: Close of electoral roll
  • 8 November: Close of nominations for party candidates
  • 9 November: Close of nominations for independent candidates
  • 12 November: Early voting begins
  • 24 November: Election day (polls open 8am to 6pm)
  • 30 November: Last day for receipt of postal votes
  • 15 December: Last day for return of writs.

Previous parliament

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Legislative Assembly

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Following the 2014 election, Labor formed majority government with 47 seats. The Coalition held 38 seats, with the Liberal Party holding 30 and the National Party holding 8. On the crossbench, the Greens held 2 seats and Independent Suzanna Sheed held the seat of Shepparton.

Legislative Council

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Following the 2014 election, Labor held 14 seats; the Coalition held 16 seats (14 Liberal, 2 National); the Greens held 5 seats; the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party held 2 seats; and the Sex Party (now the Reason Party), Democratic Labour Party, and Vote 1 Local Jobs party held 1 seat each.

By-elections

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Former Nationals leader Peter Ryan announced his resignation from parliament on 2 February 2015, triggering a by-election in the seat of Gippsland South for 14 March.[10] The election was won by Danny O'Brien of the National Party.

Denis Napthine and Terry Mulder resigned from parliament on 3 September 2015. Their seats were retained by the Liberal Party in by-elections held in South-West Coast and Polwarth on 31 October.

Minister for Women and Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Fiona Richardson died on 23 August 2017. A by-election was held in the seat of Northcote on 18 November, in which the Victorian Greens won the seat from the Labor Party.

Changes in parliament

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Don Nardella, the former Deputy Speaker of the Assembly and member for the seat of Melton, resigned from the Labor Party on 7 March 2017 to sit as an independent. Nardella's resignation was demanded by Premier Andrews after Nardella refused to pay back approximately $100,000 of taxpayer funded entitlements in the midst an expenses scandal. The resignation reduced the number of Labor members in the Assembly from 47 to 46, still above the 45 seats needed for majority government to be formed. Nardella had previously announced his intention to quit politics at the 2018 election and following his resignation from the Labor Party stated he intended to serve out his full term as the member for Melton.[11]

Russell Northe, the member for Morwell resigned from the National Party on 28 August 2017, due to mental health and financial issues, continuing in his position as an independent.[12]

Greg Barber resigned as Leader of the Greens and from his Northern Metropolitan Region seat on 28 September 2017, and was replaced in both by Moreland councillor Samantha Ratnam.[13]

Colleen Hartland, a Greens member of the Western Metropolitan Region, resigned on 8 February 2018,[14] and was replaced by Huong Truong.

State of electorates

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The following Mackerras pendulum lists seats in the Legislative Assembly according to the percentage point margin on a two candidate preferred basis based on the 2014 election results.[15] The Australian Electoral Commission considers a seat "safe" if it requires a swing of over 10% to change, "fairly safe" seats require a swing of between 6 and 10%, while "marginal" seats require a swing of less than 6%.[16]

Labor seats - 2014
Seat Member Party Margin
Marginal
Frankston Paul Edbrooke ALP 0.5%
Carrum Sonya Kilkenny ALP 0.7%
Bentleigh Nick Staikos ALP 0.8%
Richmond Richard Wynne ALP 1.9% v GRN
Mordialloc Tim Richardson ALP 2.1%
Brunswick Jane Garrett ALP 2.2% v GRN
Cranbourne Jude Perera ALP 2.3%
Eltham Vicki Ward ALP 2.7%
Albert Park Martin Foley ALP 3.0%
Ivanhoe Anthony Carbines ALP 3.4%
Yan Yean Danielle Green ALP 3.7%
Macedon Mary-Anne Thomas ALP 3.8%
Sunbury Josh Bull ALP 4.3%
Mulgrave Daniel Andrews ALP 4.5%
Narre Warren North Luke Donnellan ALP 4.6%
Bellarine Lisa Neville ALP 4.8%
Bendigo East Jacinta Allan ALP 5.0%
Monbulk James Merlino ALP 5.0%
Narre Warren South Judith Graley ALP 5.5%
Wendouree Sharon Knight ALP 5.8%
Fairly safe
Geelong Christine Couzens ALP 6.0%
Buninyong Geoff Howard ALP 6.4%
Niddrie Ben Carroll ALP 7.7%
Oakleigh Steve Dimopoulos ALP 8.2%
Essendon Danny Pearson ALP 8.7%
Safe
Melton Don Nardella ALP 11.2%
Keysborough Martin Pakula ALP 11.9%
Bendigo West Maree Edwards ALP 12.2%
Bundoora Colin Brooks ALP 12.2%
Altona Jill Hennessy ALP 12.6%
Dandenong Gabrielle Williams ALP 12.9%
Footscray Marsha Thomson ALP 14.5%
Tarneit Telmo Languiller ALP 14.6%
Werribee Tim Pallas ALP 15.7%
Clarinda Hong Lim ALP 15.8%
Sydenham Natalie Hutchins ALP 16.3%
Williamstown Wade Noonan ALP 16.5%
Pascoe Vale Lizzie Blandthorn ALP 16.8%
Lara John Eren ALP 17.1%
St Albans Natalie Suleyman ALP 17.5%
Yuroke Ros Spence ALP 18.5%
Mill Park Lily D'Ambrosio ALP 19.9%
Very safe
Kororoit Marlene Kairouz ALP 20.0%
Preston Robin Scott ALP 24.7%
Broadmeadows Frank McGuire ALP 27.8%
Thomastown Bronwyn Halfpenny ALP 28.4%
Coalition seats - 2014
Seat Member Party Margin
Marginal
Ripon Louise Staley LIB 0.8%
Morwell Russell Northe NAT 1.8%
South Barwon Andrew Katos LIB 2.9%
Burwood Graham Watt LIB 3.2%
Eildon Cindy McLeish LIB 3.8%
Bass Brian Paynter LIB 4.6%
Bayswater Heidi Victoria LIB 4.6%
Mount Waverley Michael Gidley LIB 4.6%
Forest Hill Neil Angus LIB 4.8%
Caulfield David Southwick LIB 4.9%
Ringwood Dee Ryall LIB 5.1%
Box Hill Robert Clark LIB 5.7%
Fairly safe
Sandringham Murray Thompson LIB 7.3%
Hastings Neale Burgess LIB 7.6%
Nepean Martin Dixon LIB 7.6%
Ferntree Gully Nick Wakeling LIB 7.8%
Mildura Peter Crisp NAT 8.0% v IND
Rowville Kim Wells LIB 8.4%
Hawthorn John Pesutto LIB 8.6%
Gembrook Brad Battin LIB 9.0%
Croydon David Hodgett LIB 9.3%
Evelyn Christine Fyffe LIB 9.6%
Benambra Bill Tilley LIB 9.7%
Brighton Louise Asher LIB 9.8%
Safe
Bulleen Matthew Guy LIB 10.6%
Kew Tim Smith LIB 10.6%
Polwarth Terry Mulder LIB 10.6%
South-West Coast Denis Napthine LIB 11.0%
Narracan Gary Blackwood LIB 11.3%
Warrandyte Ryan Smith LIB 11.6%
Mornington David Morris LIB 12.6%
Euroa Steph Ryan NAT 14.5%
Gippsland South Peter Ryan NAT 15.7%
Malvern Michael O'Brien LIB 16.3%
Ovens Valley Tim McCurdy NAT 16.6%
Gippsland East Tim Bull NAT 17.9%
Very safe
Lowan Emma Kealy NAT 21.3%
Murray Plains Peter Walsh NAT 22.4%
Crossbench seats - 2014
Prahran Sam Hibbins GRN 0.4% v LIB
Melbourne Ellen Sandell GRN 2.4% v ALP
Shepparton Suzanna Sheed IND 2.6% v NAT
Northcote Lidia Thorpe GRN 5.6% v ALP

Registered parties

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At the close of nominations, there were 23 parties registered with the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC), of which 21 contested the election:[17]

Candidates and retiring MPs

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Nominations of candidates opened on 31 October 2018. Nominations for party candidates closed on 8 November, and for independent candidates on 9 November.

A total of 887 candidates nominated for the election, down from 896 at the 2014 election. There were 507 candidates for the Legislative Assembly, the second-highest number on record, down from 545 in 2014. The 380 candidates for the Legislative Council was the highest number of upper house candidates in a Victorian election, up from 351 in 2014.[18]

Retiring MPs

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Members who chose not to renominate are as follows:

Labor

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Liberal

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Independent

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Disendorsed candidates

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On 13 November, Neelam Rai, a Liberal candidate for Northern Metropolitan Region, withdrew her candidacy after the Herald Sun revealed that she was the director of an unregistered charity, No Hunger Australia. The Liberal Party also released a statement saying that Rai's nomination form for preselection had "failed to disclose a number of issues of relevance".[35]

On 15 November, the Liberal Party withdrew its endorsement of Meralyn Klein, their candidate for the marginal seat of Yan Yean, after footage emerged of her speaking in an anti-Muslim video produced by the Australian Liberty Alliance. Klein denied any association with the ALA, saying she had been interviewed about an incident where she had been assaulted several years earlier, and the footage had been provided to the ALA and edited into an anti-Muslim video.[36]

As ballot papers had already been printed, both Rai and Klein appeared as Liberal candidates. The Labor Party petitioned the Supreme Court to order the VEC to reprint the ballot papers with Klein's affiliation removed,[37] but the case was dismissed.[38]

On 22 November, two days before Election Day, the Greens ordered a then-unnamed candidate to withdraw from the campaign after an allegation of "serious sexual misconduct" was made.[39] The following day the party revealed the candidate in question was Dominic Phillips, candidate for the seat of Sandringham; he was stood down by the party.[40] As the ballot papers had already been printed, Phillips stood as the Greens candidate and won over 8% of the vote.

Issues

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On 28 October both Labor and the Coalition launched their campaigns, with Labor making health, paramedics and improved ambulance response times a priority, while the Coalition focused on cutting taxes, better managing population growth and cracking down on crime.[41] Labor and the Coalition pledged $23.3 billion and $24.8 billion respectively, more than double pledged during the 2010 and 2014 elections, excluding the proposed Suburban Rail Loop and high speed rail for regional services which would require future governments to fund.[42] Labor pledged to invest substantially more money than the Coalition in health, with $1.3bn in promises to boost nursing numbers and $395.8m to provide every state school student with free dental check-ups and procedures and $232m to build seven new early parenting centres; in contrast to the Coalition whose signature health policy was constructing a new hospital in Warragul, the biggest city in the rapidly expanding West Gippsland region.[43]

The Coalition's leading message of the campaign was to "get back in control" of the state's allegedly burgeoning crime problem. The party promised tougher bail conditions than Labor, saying that anyone who breaches bail will be jailed. In addition mandatory sentencing would become more commonplace, with minimum sentences for repeat violent offenders and people deemed possible terror threats could be forced to wear electronic monitoring devices, a proposal made after the stabbing attack in the city which occurred during the campaign.[43] The divisions between the parties over social issues were pronounced, as the Coalition promised to axe the safe injecting room in Richmond, the Safe Schools program for LGBTI children in state secondary schools and the process for a formalised treaty for Indigenous Victorians.[44] The Coalition also promised to reinstate religious instruction classes in state schools, something removed from classes and made an opt-in process by Labor.[43]

Arguably the most pressing issue of the campaign was public transport and infrastructure. Melbourne's record population growth of more than 125,000 people a year made both party leaders focus on big transport initiatives. Labor unveiled a $50 billion underground rail loop of the suburbs surrounding the city, though admitted the project would not be completed before 2050 and actually pledged $300 million for a business study.[43] The Coalition instead proposed a $19 billion "European-style" regional rail network that would rebuild the entire network and include high-speed rail on four lines, travelling up to 200 km an hour.[43] Both parties agreed on the West Gate Tunnel, North East Link and Metro Rail projects, though the Coalition pledged to bring back the defunct East West Link project which was scrapped at a cost of $1 billion by the Labor Government.[43]

Minor party the Greens sought to expand their numbers in parliament and make further gains in inner-city/suburban seats held by Labor such as Albert Park, Brunswick and Richmond. The party proposed a dedicated bike "superlane" stretching 17 kilometres from Elsternwick railway station to Coburg, as well as further cycling routes connecting Box Hill and Richmond, Ringwood and Croydon and a connection from the Burwood Highway through to Knox and Deakin University.[45] Overall, most Greens policies were more closely aligned with Labor policies than the Coalition,[43] a fact acknowledged by Greens leader Samantha Ratnam who said she would seek to negotiate with Labor to form government in the event of a hung parliament.[46] Labor leader Daniel Andrews reacted negatively to this possibility saying "no deal will be offered" and criticising the Greens for allegedly "refusing to call out denigration of women", in reference to past sexist comments made by the Greens candidate for the seat of Footscray, Angus McAlpine.[47]

The total number of people who voted early in the last two weeks of the campaign was 1,639,202, which made up 40% of the eligible voting population.[48]

Polling

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Graphical summary

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Aggregate data of voting intention from all opinion polling since the last election. A local regression trend is shown in a solid line.

Voting intention

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In the lead-up to the election, Poll aggregation site Poll Bludger placed the two-party-preferred vote for Labor at 53.5%, coupled with primary vote shares at 41.0% for Labor, 39.8% for the Liberal/National Coalition, and 11.1% for the Greens.[49] Election Analyst Antony Green stated on the ABC's election coverage that the result was "four to five percent better than all the opinion polls, which is the most out I've seen opinion polls in this country"[50]

The Liberal Party wrote in their campaign review that their data gathered in their internal research in marginal seats was "fundamentally wrong", which lead to resources and campaigners being diverted from marginal Liberal-held seats to "target "Labor" seats on the false assumption that "[the Liberal Party] had already won [Liberal held] seats".[51]

Legislative Assembly (lower house) polling
Date Firm Primary vote TPP vote
LIB NAT ALP GRN OTH ALP L/NP
24 November 2018 election 30.4% 4.8% 42.9% 10.7% 11.2% 57.3% 42.7%
24 November 2018 YouGov-Galaxy (Exit Poll)[52] 38%* 41% 12% 9% 55% 45%
23 November 2018 Roy Morgan[53] 33%* 39% 13% 15% 54% 46%
23 November 2018 Newspoll[54] 40%* 41% 11% 8% 53.5% 46.5%
21 November 2018 uComms/ReachTEL[55] 35.9%* 38.7% 10.4% 9.9% 54% 46%
21 November 2018 YouGov[56] 40%* 40% 11% 9% 53% 47%
14 November 2018 ReachTEL[57] 36.8%* 40.4% 10.3% 12.5% 56% 44%
24–28 Oct 2018 Newspoll[58] 39%* 41% 11% 9% 54% 46%
22–24 Oct 2018 YouGov[59] 39%* 40% 12% 9% 53% 47%
3 October 2018 ReachTEL[60] 38.8%* 35.9% 10.9% 14.4% 52% 48%
11–13 Sep 2018 YouGov[61] 40%* 42% 53% 47%
9 August 2018 YouGov[62] 42%* 38% 10% 10% 51% 49%
5 July 2018 ReachTEL[63] 39.4%* 35.4% 10.5% 14.7% 51% 49%
13–16 Apr 2018 Newspoll[64] 41%* 38% 11% 10% 51% 49%
Feb–Mar 2018 Newspoll[65] 39%* 37% 11% 13% 52% 48%
Oct–Dec 2017 Essential[66] 43%* 38% 10% 9% 51% 49%
6 December 2017 Galaxy[67] 41%* 36% 10% 12% 50% 50%
Jul–Sep 2017 Essential[68] 42%* 39% 10% 9% 52% 48%
17–18 Jun 2017 Galaxy[69] 44%* 33% 8% 14% 47% 53%
7 March 2017 ReachTEL[70] 39.8%* 30.3% 8% 15.7% 46% 54%
15–16 Feb 2017 Galaxy[71] 41%* 37% 10% 12% 51% 49%
Oct 2016 Roy Morgan[72] 36%* 39% 13% 12% 56.5% 43.5%
1 September 2016 ReachTEL[73] 40.1%* 34.6% 10.7% 51% 49%
Aug 2016 Roy Morgan[74] 36%* 37.5% 13.5% 13.5% 55.5% 44.5%
Aug 2016 ReachTEL[75] 42.7%* 35.0% 13.0% 9.3% 52% 48%
Aug 2016 Roy Morgan[76] 38%* 13% 40.5% 8.5% 56% 44%
Mar 2016 Roy Morgan[77] 39%* 40.5% 12% 8.5% 55% 45%
Nov–Dec 2015 Roy Morgan[78] 38%* 40.5% 13% 8.5% 56% 44%
Nov–Dec 2015 Newspoll[79] 38% 5% 39% 12% 6% 52% 48%
16 October 2015 Roy Morgan[80] 39%* 40% 14.5% 6.5% 55.5% 44.5%
28–31 Aug 2015 Roy Morgan[81] 35.5%* 39% 16.5% 9% 57% 43%
31 Jul-3 Aug 2015 Roy Morgan[82] 38%* 41% 14% 7% 56.5% 43.5%
May–Jun 2015 Newspoll[79] 32% 3% 41% 14% 10% 58% 42%
27 May 2015 Roy Morgan[83] 38.5%* 43.5% 12.5% 5.5% 56.5% 43.5%
10–13 Apr 2015 Roy Morgan[84] 40%* 41% 11.5% 7.5% 54% 46%
13–15 Mar 2015 Roy Morgan[85] 38%* 43% 11.5% 7.5% 56% 44%
14–16 Feb 2015 Roy Morgan[86] 39.5%* 41.5% 11.5% 7.5% 54.5% 45.5%
16–18 Jan 2015 Roy Morgan[87] 35%* 45% 11.5% 8.5% 59% 41%
4 December 2014 Matthew Guy becomes Liberal leader and leader of the opposition
29 November 2014 election 36.5% 5.5% 38.1% 11.5% 8.4% 52.0% 48.0%
25–28 Nov 2014 Ipsos[88] 42%* 35% 15% 8% 52% 48%
24–27 Nov 2014 Newspoll 36% 4% 39% 12% 9% 52% 48%
27 November 2014 ReachTEL[89] 34.5% 5.2% 38.3% 13.5% 8.5% 52% 48%
26–27 Nov 2014 Roy Morgan[90] 44%* 36% 13.5% 6.5% 50% 50%
25–26 Nov 2014 Galaxy[91] 40%* 39% 13% 8% 52% 48%
7–24 Nov 2014 Essential[92] 40%* 39% 13% 8% 52% 48%
* Indicates a combined Liberal/National primary vote.
Newspoll polling is published in The Australian.[93]

Preferred Premier and satisfaction

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Opinion polls conducted for preferred premier
Better Premier and satisfaction polling*
Date Firm Better Premier Andrews Guy
Andrews Guy Satisfied Dissatisfied Satisfied Dissatisfied
24–28 Oct 2018 Newspoll[94] 45% 29% 45% 40% 31% 46%
22–24 Oct 2018 YouGov[59] not asked 44% 35% 24% 42%
7 October 2018 ReachTEL[95] 51.3% 48.7% not asked
11–13 Sep 2018 YouGov[96] not asked 40% 42% 25% 44%
9 August 2018 YouGov[97] 40% 33% not asked
5 July 2018 ReachTEL[63] 50.6% 49.4% not asked
13–16 Apr 2018 Newspoll[64] 41% 34% 43% 47% 32% 45%
Feb–Mar 2018 Newspoll[65] 41% 30% 46% 41% 36% 37%
6 December 2017 Galaxy[98] 41% 25% not asked
17–18 Jun 2017 Galaxy[69] 41% 29% not asked
7 March 2017 ReachTEL[70] 29.6% 34.7% not asked
Oct 2016 Roy Morgan[72] 59% 41% not asked
1 September 2016 ReachTEL[73] 49% 51% not asked
May 2016 Roy Morgan[78] 63.5% 36.5% not asked
Nov–Dec 2015 Newspoll[79] 43% 26% 43% 39% 27% 40%
16 October 2015 Roy Morgan 63.5% 36.5% not asked
31 Jul-3 Aug 2015 Roy Morgan[82] 64% 36% not asked
25–28 Nov 2014 Newspoll[79] 48% 24% 51% 32% 35% 29%
10–13 Apr 2015 Roy Morgan[83] 63% 37% not asked
10–13 Apr 2015 Roy Morgan[84] 59.5% 40.5% not asked
13–15 Mar 2015 Roy Morgan[85] 62.5% 37.5% not asked
14–16 Feb 2015 Roy Morgan[86] 62.5% 37.5% not asked
16–18 Jan 2015 Roy Morgan[87] 66.5% 33.5% not asked
4 December 2014 Guy replaces Napthine Andrews Napthine Andrews Napthine
29 November 2014 election
25–28 Nov 2014 Ipsos[88] 42% 44% 42% 43% 49% 40%
24–27 Nov 2014 Newspoll 37% 41% 38% 43% 41% 45%
26–27 Nov 2014 Roy Morgan[90] 49.5% 50.5% not asked
25–26 Nov 2014 Galaxy[91] 38% 41% not asked
* Remainder were "uncommitted" or "other/neither".
† Participants were forced to choose.
Newspoll polling is published in The Australian.[93]

Newspaper endorsements

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Daily newspapers   Sunday newspapers   Alternative newspapers
Newspaper Endorsement Newspaper Endorsement Newspaper Endorsement
The Age Labor[99] The Sunday Age Labor[100] Green Left Weekly Socialists[101]
The Australian Liberal[102]
The Australian Financial Review Labor[103]
Herald Sun Liberal[104] Sunday Herald Sun Liberal[105]

Results

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Legislative Assembly

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55 3 3 6 21
ALP GRN IND NAT LIB
 
Winning party by electorate.
Legislative Assembly (IRV) – (CV)[106]
 
Party Votes % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 1,506,460 42.86 +4.77 55   8
    Liberal 1,069,287 30.43 −6.04 21   9
  National 167,625 4.77 −0.76 6   2
Coalition total 1,236,912 35.19 −6.80 27   11
  Greens 376,470 10.71 −0.77 3   1*
  Animal Justice 63,970 1.82 +1.59 0  
  Shooters, Fishers and Farmers 24,257 0.69 +0.61 0  
  Democratic Labour 24,097 0.69 +0.60 0  
  Victorian Socialists 15,442 0.44 New 0  
  Reason 12,695 0.36 +0.10 0  
  Transport Matters 10,313 0.29 New 0  
  Justice 9,277 0.26 New 0  
  Sustainable Australia 8,183 0.23 New 0  
  Country 6,566 0.19 −1.10 0  
  Liberal Democratic 4,030 0.12 New 0  
  Aussie Battler 1,281 0.04 New 0  
  Liberty Alliance 1,232 0.04 New 0  
  Independents 213,289 6.07 +3.47 3   2**
Total valid votes 3,514,474 94.17
Invalid/blank votes 217,592 5.83
Total 3,732,066 100 88  
Registered voters / Turnout 4,139,326 90.16
Two-party-preferred vote***
  Labor 1,988,434 57.30 +5.31 55   8
  Coalition 1,481,975 42.70 −5.31 27   11
 
Two-Party-Preferred Swing

* Compared with results at 2014 election. The Greens went into the 2018 election with 3 seats following the Northcote by-election, 2017
** Compared with results at 2014 election. There were 3 independent members at the dissolution of parliament following resignations by Russell Northe and Don Nardella.
*** Based on the 87 districts for which the Liberal/National Coalition fielded a candidate. The Liberal Party did not field a candidate in Richmond. Labor received 73.07% of the two-party-preferred vote in that district at the 2014 election.

Popular vote
Labor
42.86%
Liberal
30.43%
Greens
10.71%
National
4.77%
Independents
6.07%
Other
5.16%
Two-party-preferred vote
Labor
57.30%
Coalition
42.70%
Seats
Labor
62.50%
Coalition
30.68%
Greens
3.41%
Independents
3.41%
Seats changing hands[107]
Seat 2014 election Swing 2018 election
Party Member Margin Margin Member Party
Bass Liberal Brian Paynter 4.6 +6.9 2.4 Jordan Crugnale Labor
Bayswater Liberal Heidi Victoria 4.6 +5.0 0.4 Jackson Taylor Labor
Box Hill Liberal Robert Clark 5.7 +7.8 2.1 Paul Hamer Labor
Brunswick Labor Jane Garrett 2.2 +2.8 0.6 Tim Read Greens
Burwood Liberal Graham Watt 3.2 +6.5 3.3 Will Fowles Labor
Hawthorn Liberal John Pesutto 8.6 +9.0 0.4 John Kennedy Labor
Mildura National Peter Crisp 8.0 +8.4 0.3 Ali Cupper Independent
Morwell National Russell Northe* 1.8 +3.6 1.8 Russell Northe Independent
Mount Waverley Liberal Michael Gidley 4.6 +6.4 1.8 Matt Fregon Labor
Nepean Liberal Martin Dixon 7.6 +8.5 0.9 Chris Brayne Labor
Northcote Greens Lidia Thorpe** −6.0 −4.3 1.7 Kat Theophanous Labor
Ringwood Liberal Dee Ryall 5.1 +7.9 2.8 Dustin Halse Labor
South Barwon Liberal Andrew Katos 2.9 +7.5 4.6 Darren Cheeseman Labor
* Russell Northe was elected as a Nationals MP but resigned from the party in 2017. The margin given is his margin as a Nationals candidate in 2014.
** Lidia Thorpe won Northcote from Labor for the Greens at a by-election in November 2017. The margin here is the Greens margin at the 2014 election.

Labor's victory came primarily on the strength of a larger-than-expected and larger than statewide swing in eastern Melbourne, which has traditionally decided elections in Victoria. According to the ABC's election analyst Antony Green, the eastern suburbs were swept up in a "band of red".[108] They also took a number of seats in areas considered Liberal heartland. Hawthorn, for instance, fell to Labor for only the second time ever and for the first time in 63 years. Bass elected a Labor member for the first time ever; the seat and its predecessors, Gippsland West and Westernport, had been in conservative hands for all but two terms since 1909.

Legislative Council

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Legislative Council (STV/GVT) – (CV)[106][109]
 
Party Votes % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 1,406,122 39.22  5.76 18   4
    Liberal (metropolitan) 615,050 17.15  3.67 7   3
  Liberal/National joint ticket 439,930 12.27  3.04
  Liberal (regional) 3   1
  National 1   1
Coalition total 1,054,980 29.42  6.71 11   5
  Greens 331,479 9.25  1.50 1   4
  Justice 134,266 3.75 New 3   3
  Shooters, Fishers and Farmers 108,280 3.02  1.37 1   1
  Liberal Democratic 89,428 2.50  0.56 2   2
  Animal Justice 88,520 2.47  0.77 1   1
  Democratic Labour 75,221 2.10  0.22 0   1*
  Reason 49,013 1.37  1.26 1  
  Voluntary Euthanasia 42,611 1.19  0.70 0  
  Aussie Battler 33,172 0.93 New 0  
  Victorian Socialists 32,603 0.91 New 0  
  Sustainable Australia 29,831 0.83 New 1   1
  Health Australia 28,132 0.79 New 0  
  Country 24,295 0.68 +0.00 0  
  Transport Matters 22,051 0.62 New 1   1
  Liberty Alliance 20,065 0.56 New 0  
  Hudson for Northern Victoria 6,363 0.18 New 0  
  Vote 1 Local Jobs 5,338 0.15  0.06 0   1
  Independents and ungrouped 2,556 0.07  0.06 0  **
Total valid votes 3,583,478 96.04
Invalid/blank votes 147,713 3.96
Total 3,731,191 100 40  
Registered voters / Turnout 4,139,326 90.14

* - Compared with results at 2014 election. The DLP went into the 2018 election with no Legislative Council seats after Rachel Carling-Jenkins initially defected to the Conservatives and eventually sat as an independent.
** - Compared with results at 2014 election. There was one independent at the dissolution of parliament after Rachel Carling-Jenkin's defections from the DLP and then the Conservatives.

Legislative Council seats table

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Region Seats held
Eastern Metropolitan          
Eastern Victoria          
Northern Metropolitan          
Northern Victoria          
South-Eastern Metropolitan          
Southern Metropolitan          
Western Metropolitan          
Western Victoria          

Party key:

  Labor
  Liberal
  Greens
  National
  Justice
  Liberal Democratic
  Reason
  Animal Justice
  Shooters, Fishers, Farmers
  Sustainable Australia
  Transport Matters

Labor benefited from an enormous swing toward it and consequently picked up at least one seat in most regions, winning 18 seats. The swing against the Coalition in the lower house was replicated in the Council and they lost five seats to finish with only 11. Most of the minor parties were the beneficiaries of above-the-line voting, though Reason Party MP Fiona Patten was re-elected on the back of a strong below-the-line vote in Northern Metropolitan.[110] The Greens were the biggest losers of the system, losing four of their five upper house members and only re-electing party leader Samantha Ratnam.[111] Derryn Hinch's Justice Party was the biggest winner on the crossbench, picking up three seats, however the party's member for Western Metropolitan (Catherine Cumming) defected to sit as an independent prior to being sworn in.[112] The Liberal Democrats won two seats.

Richard Willingham, the ABC News state political correspondent, described the result as proof of Labor's continued "dominance" of state politics, noting that "enough progressive parties [won] spots on the crossbench to potentially provide an avenue for any controversial legislation."[113]

Aftermath

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Victorian Liberal President Michael Kroger resigned following the election due to the Liberals defeat

Michael O'Brien replaced Matthew Guy as leader of the opposition following Guy's resignation. Daniel Andrews would remain Premier until 2023 Victorian state Liberal President Michael Kroger resigned following the election result and the Liberals defeat.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-30/michael-kroger-victorian-liberal-party-president-resigns/10573382

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