Adam Bandt talking with voters for and voting at Mt Alexander College in Flemington. Source: News Limited
GREENS candidate Adam Bandt is confident he will retain the seat of Melbourne, but admits his political future could come down to just a handful of votes.
Mr Bandt cast his vote for the election at Mount Alexander College in Flemington this morning.
He said the feeling in the electorate was that voters were disappointed by Labor and "certainly did not want Liberal Leader Tony Abbott."
Scroll down for news on other Victorians seats.
He said Melbourne voters were fed up with the race to the bottom in politics.
"We know we are going to do something that hasn't been done before: win a lower house seat on our own right and we feel we are on track to do it," Mr Bandt said.
The Greens won the seat off Labor in 2010 with a margin of 5.9 per cent.
However this time Mr Bandt will not receive Liberal preferences after it decided to preference Labor instead.
Mr Bandt said recent polls indicated his first preference vote had increased to around 4 per cent, which would be enough for the Greens to retain the seat.
Tony Abbott visits the seat of Chisholm with Liberal candidate John Nguyen. Picture: Getty Images
He will be relying on Liberal voters not following the party's how to vote card.
He would not be drawn on his future if he fails to retain the seat.
"Apart from the election the only thing I have thought about before the end of the year is my wedding is coming up three months from today."
Mr Bandt said the country would need the Greens in the House of Representatives if Mr Abbott gains the prime ministership tomorrow as an insurance policy so the Liberals did not have total power.
Mr Bandt said voters in Melbourne had a clear choice between a backbencher who is likely to be in opposition, referring to the Labor candidate Cath Bowtell or the deputy leader of the Greens who was likely to be in the balance of power in the senate.
"Unlike the Labor Party I won't vote with Tony Abbott to send refugees offshore," he said.
Mr Bandt said the Greens would be judged on their track record in Parliament, which included delivering on dental and clean energy reform.
Independent candidate Cathy McGowan is putting pressure in Sophie Mirabella's seat of Indi.
- by Lucie Van den Berg
McEwan
BOTH major parties are predicting a tight contest in marginal McEwan as voting lines build across the outer Melbourne electorate.
Labor MP Rob Mitchell and Liberal candidate Donna Petrovich have both hit polling booths in a fight for last-minute votes.
Speaking at Sunbury West Primary School Ms Petrovich, who is hoping for a career in federal politics having served as a State Upper House MP, said winning was a tough ask but she remained positive.
The seat, which covers the outer northern suburbs and stretches into central Victoria, is held by a margin of 9.3 per cent.
``The feeling I have is that it will be very close,'' she said. ``People are angry and they are disenfranchised.
The member for Corangamite, Darren Cheeseman, and Liberal candidate Sarah Henderson campaign. Picture: Mitch Bear
``There is a mood for change.''
The newcomer had knocked on a whopping 8500 doors during the campaign and has plastered the electorate with countless billboards and posters.
``I think people who meet me know that I am hardworking and genuine and that I really do want to make a change for this seat,'' she said.
Mr Mitchell, speaking at Sunbury College, said he believed no single issue would decide the contest.
``Some are thinking about a whole range of national and global issues,'' he said.
``And others are just looking at local things.
``You are always anxious, you are always nervous - you just hope the hard work has paid off.
``Every promise I have made I have delivered - we have got the biggest investment in this electorate ever.''
His opponent's spending on advertising had been impossible to match however. ``Clearly we have been outspent by a huge amount of money,'' Mr Mitchell said. ``But I think people will see past that.''
Self-funded retiree Dorothy Holbrook was among those seeking change, saying Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had let down voters.
``You do not get a second change when you do things wrong,'' she said. ``I just feel that he has not done a good job and he is very manic and self-opinionated.
``He really doesn't care about what we think, as long as he gets in and does the job he wants to do his way.''
But Sunbury Labor voter Robert Hill feared the Coalition would provide a less sympathetic and tolerant government.
``I think the Liberal party and the conservatives represent everything that is bad in Australia,'' he said.
Robyn Bell and husband John were still yet to decide who would win their support, juggling a pile of how-to-vote cards.
Both were considering alternatives such as Palmer United and Katter's Australian Party, believing the major parties had been a letdown.
``I think they are only looking after themselves to get back in,'' Ms Bell said. ``There is no foresight - it's just for now.''
Both the Labor and Liberal candidates vowed to work the booths until they closed at 6pm, spreading their time across the sprawling electorate.
- by Wes Hosking
LaTrobe
LAURA Smyth says only a Labor government will deliver on education and infrastructure promises in La Trobe.
Ms Smyth said she was proud of her achievements as local member, which included opening new Headspace units in La Trobe.
The ALP candidate, who was handing out how to vote cards at Berwick's Timbarra Primary School, holds La Trobe with a 1.7 per cent margin and admitted she was a "bit of an underdog".
"A lot of people in this area, quite frankly, feel left behind by Liberal members in the past," Ms Smyth said.
"There has also been a big reaction to the TAFE cuts in the area."
Ms Smyth said, if re-elected, she was looking forward to continued investment in education, including Labor's Better Schools Plan and developing better pathways to employment.
"A lot of people here, on our watch, have been the first to go to university in their families," she said.
When asked if she had any good luck charms out on the hustings, Ms Smyth replied: "I believe in hard work. That's the best good luck charm there is."
- by Rebecca David
Chisholm
THERE was a long queue at the Ashwood College even before voting polls opened at 8am. Chisholm is one of Victoria's marginal seats, with the Liberals needing a swing of 5.8 per cent to win the seat.
Federal Labor MP Anna Burke is out in full force, talking to her constituents and interacting with everyone lining up. Ms Burke seemed confident.
"The sun is shining, all is well in the world. It is up to the people to decide today. The feel on the ground has been pretty positive with the job I've been doing locally," Ms Burke said.
She said voters in her electorate had brought up many issues with her, which she said she would work hard to fix. Ms Burke said aged care, health and education were important to the people of Chisholm. She also said people were concerned about climate change and asylum seekers. Ms Burke cast her vote at the Ashwood College voting booth.
Liberal candidate for Chisholm John Nguyen was also at the polling booth interacting with voters. He ensured he spoke to almost everyone walking through the entrance.
"It is good to see people here and democracy working," Mr Nguyen said.
"Today is like the grand final, you have two good teams and it is up to the voters to decide," he said.
"People should vote Liberal, I have seen what has happened in the last three years under Labor - we have had a lack of infrastructure spending, students finishing university are worried they won't be able to find jobs and people in jobs are fearful of losing them," Mr Nguyen said.
"People care about the country's economy and they expect the government to manage their hard-earned money properly."
"I am confident people will make good judgement," he said.
Both Anna Burke and John Nguyen moved onto other polling stations in the elecorate including Mount Wavlerley Primary School in Mount Waverley and East Oakleigh.
If Anna Burke loses her seat of Chisholm, she will still remain speaker until next parliament.
- by Kylie Adoranti
Liberals tipped to win Victorian seats
FOUR seats in Victoria are tipped to change hands and another five are "in play", with most at-risk electorates held by Labor.
Sources from both parties agree the three most marginal seats - Corangamite in the state's inner southwest, and Deakin and La Trobe in Melbourne's east and southeast - will fall to the Coalition.
Labor is worried at least one other seat in Victoria will slip from its grasp, with concerns about McEwen, Bendigo, Bruce and Chisholm.
But it is hopeful of picking up Melbourne, held by Greens MP Adam Bandt, with the result there likely to go down to the wire.
A Liberal source said Bruce, held by Labor's Alan Griffin was "line-ball" and that "significant resources" have been pumped into McEwen, held by Labor MP Rob Mitchell; and Bendigo, where Labor MP Steve Gibbons is retiring.
One Labor source said while there was some concern about large swings in those seats, the party thought MPs may have secured enough support to hang on.
A senior Labor MP said it could be "carnage" across Australia for Labor, but that the damage in Victoria might be limited to four seats.
One senior Liberal MP said polling had been mixed in some Victorian seats, but that several were potentially "within reach".
A Liberal source said anything was possible in outer suburbs if a big swing was on, and that pre-polling in Isaacs - which the party is not expecting to win - has been brutal for Labor.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott visited the seat of Chisholm, where Liberal candidate John Nguyen is taking on popular Labor MP and Speaker Anna Burke.
Mr Abbott urged people to get behind his team in Victoria. "Make your vote count, make it count towards a strong and stable majority government," he said.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was in NSW and Queensland - where Labor is facing the greatest voter backlash - for a last-minute blitz of marginal seats.
He said the race wasn't over yet.
The battle for the seat of Melbourne is likely to end on a knife's edge, with the Greens confident their only Lower House MP, Adam Bandt, can hold on. But Labor is suggesting its candidate, Cath Bowtell, will get over the line.
One of the few electorates the Coalition has concerns about is the northern Victorian seat of Indi, held by shadow industry spokeswoman Sophie Mirabella, who is under pressure from independent candidate Cathy McGowan.
In another knife-edge seat, Corangamite, Liberal candidate Sarah Henderson is expected to win the seat this time round after narrowly losing to Labor MP Darren Cheeseman in 2010.
matthew.johnston@news.com.au
- by Matthew Johnston
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