Federal Election 2025: Victorian voters have their say as polls close
Victorians have turned out in droves to cast their vote in the Federal Election with the state a key battleground as the nation stares down a minority government.
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Victorians have played a critical role in deciding the next government after casting their votes.
Cost of living, investments in Melbourne Airport Rail and the contentious Suburban Rail Loop projects, crime, and economic management have dominated the fight to win votes — especially in Melbourne’s outer suburban and mortgage belt seats.
Frydenberg happy just lending a hand
Josh Frydenberg says he has “no regrets” about choosing to stay out of politics, as he campaigns in Kooyong.
During his short time at the Balwyn North Primary School polling booth, the former treasurer was instantly recognised by a fan who posed up for a picture.
“I wish he was running,” she quietly told the Herald Sun.
“I want Josh to be the Prime Minister.”
Asked whether he wished he was running the race himself, Mr Frydenberg said he was enjoying spending more time with his family and had “no regrets”.
As for campaigning, the former senior Liberal said he was happy to lend a helping hand.
“(I’m) happy to come out and support this campaign in Kooyong and the national campaign,” he told the Herald Sun.
“This booth, lots of people are taking the Liberals how-to-vote card, and their feedback has been positive.”
Mr Frydenberg, who lost the 2022 election to teal independent MP Monique Ryan, has thrown his support behind candidate Amelia Hamer, and former colleague Peter Dutton.
“We know what the Australian people are looking for: a safer and a stronger country, and Peter Dutton can deliver that,” he said.
In a last-minute message to voters, Mr Frydenberg stuck to party lines, saying in these “challenging times the Coalition is the right party to get Australia back on track.”
‘Never seen a campaign so embraced’
Tim Wilson has acknowledged the “Herculean” effort required to deliver a potential win for the Liberals in the battleground electorate of Goldstein.
The liberal candidate is locked in a close race with incumbent independent Zoe Daniel, who claimed his seat in 2022.
Speaking outside Brighton Beach Primary in the late afternoon, Mr Wilson said he was “extremely optimistic” about his odds tonight.
“The feedback today has only continued to reinforce that people want change,” he said.
“I have never seen a campaign run by a major party which has been so embraced by the community.
“We were weighed down by the baggage of the former government but we have been honest enough to grow and learn in the way we’ve approached the campaign.
“We’re extremely optimistic about where it’s heading.”
Still, Mr Wilson said he remained “realistic” about his chances of marking three Australian electoral firsts – the first federal MP defeated by an independent to retake the seat, the first candidate to defeat an incumbent teal, and the first Liberal in 110 years to take a set off an independent elected at a general election.
“This is a Herculean effort to deliver a win in Goldstein,” he said.
The polling booth is one of many across the bayside area winding down for the day, with Zoe Daniels volunteers starting to take down posters as the last of the voters trickle in.
Labor candidate a no-show
At Bayswater Primary School in the seat of Aston, Labor’s Mary Doyle — who holds the marginal seat after winning the by-election in 2023 — was noticeably absent in the final hours, while her opponents manned the booth entrance.
Liberal candidate Manny Cicchiello was handing out campaign flyers to voters who decided not to run the risk of long queues, instead opting for a late afternoon visit to the booth.
He told the Herald Sun he was feeling “optimistic” with only a few hours to go for the polls to close.
“I’ve been talking to voters today and I believe they’re voting for change,” he said
Mr Cicchiello said cost-of-living, energy prices and grocery prices were among the key issues raised on the campaign trail.
“I’ve done a lot of door knocking and I’ve listened. People have given me a lot of good feedback so let’s see how that translates tonight,” he said.
“I’m not sure but I’ll be the wiser in a few hours.”
Green’s Reuben Steen was also passing his pamphlets at Bayswater Primary School.
Mr Steen said he was “excited”, saying the energy at Bayswater Primary School had been “really great”.
“It’s so great that we have run such a positive campaign focused on a positive plan to get action on the climate crisis and the cost of living crisis.”
Greens have Labor seeing red
The Victorian Greens have riled up Labor after appearing to run last-minute open tickets in two crucial seats in Melbourne’s east.
The minor party usually run how-to-vote cards preferencing Labor in all seats, and have repeatedly asked voters to preference Labor over the Liberals to “keep Peter Dutton out”.
But in a move that has stunned some Labor figures, Greens volunteers on Saturday were handing out how-to-vote cards in Menzies and Deakin — both held on a knife’s edge by the Liberals — simply asking voters to put the Greens first in the House of Representatives.
Some in the Labor Party have been left wondering whether the decision was payback for Macnamara, where Labor MP Josh Burns was allowed to run an open ticket instead of preferencing the Greens in a bid to keep Jewish voters on side.
Labor Party National Secretary Paul Erickson said the open tickets would only help the Liberals.
“If the Greens were serious about keeping Peter Dutton out, they would not be helping the Liberals in a number of marginal seats, including hard-right figures like Michael Sukkar,” he said.
“This move just shows the Greens Political Party for who they really are, and they should be embarrassed.”
A Victorian Greens spokesman accused Labor of running a scare campaign.
He said while on some booths across the electorate there were how-to-vote cards preferencing Labor being handed out, on “a few booths in this particular electorate, the local group are also handing out a Vote 1 Greens leaflet, just like the independent and Teal candidates do, and like Labor is doing in Macnamara”.
“This is not unusual; it happens every election, and Labor is trying to create a scare campaign.”
Simon Holmes a Court at Kooyong
Climate 200 or Climate 420?
A cardboard box spotted sitting on the ground at a Wannon polling booth in Victoria has left locals scratching their heads.
Curiously, the label on the box reads Legalise Cannabis followed by “Climate 200 A4”.
The climate action group, founded by Simon Holmes a Court, has splashed millions on campaigns for independents around the country.
As for Climate 200’s connection to Legalise Cannabis, a spokesman said he would get to the bottom of it but denied any funding to the minor party.
Meanwhile, Mr Holmes a Court was spied with both teal Independent Monique Ryan and Greens Senator Stephen Hodgin’s May’s how-to-vote cards at a Kooyong voting centre.
Woman fires up at National Workers Alliance
2pm: Members from the National Workers Alliance have attended the Hampton Primary School voting booths with a microphone and speakers in tow.
The group wheeled multiple speakers up to a stand with an Australian flag, the Red Ensign Australian Flag and the Eureka Flag attached.
One member grabbed the microphone and started claiming a link between crime and immigrants, leading to a number of confrontations with passersby and working volunteers.
The Workers Alliance member got visibly upset when he was called racist, and began a tit for tat with a Labor volunteer.
“Apparently I am hateful for wanting to protect my family,” he said.
“Is the truth racist?”
He also questioned where the Goldstein candidates had got their money from.
“To the volunteers of Tim Wilson, would you like to let us know where your donations came from,” they said.
“Zoe Daniels got $546,00 from Climate 200.”
One woman walking past with her young child also got into it with the Workers Alliance member, calling him “racist” and telling him to “tell his story walking”.
While not on the microphone the speakers often blasted out patriotic tunes like Waltzing Maltida and I Was Only 19 by Redgum.
The group website claims it “is for those who feel betrayed by their own government.”
A sign of luck?
1pm: Monique Ryan may have got a spot of luck when visiting a polling booth in her electorate of Kooyong on Saturday afternoon.
Dr Ryan was speaking with media under a tree when a bird pooped on her, with the incident caught on camera.
The independent MP for Kooyong laughed off the incident, taking it her stride with a shrug, saying “it IS good luck”.
Monique Ryan just got shat on by a bird… could this day get any better? pic.twitter.com/Ru4uMWjTRq
— Australians vs. The Agenda (@ausvstheagenda) May 3, 2025
Voters slowly trickled into the voting booths in her electorate on Saturday morning.
There were plenty of democracy sausages and freshly baked cakes to go around, with the stall at Greythorn Primary School having extra sausages dropped off at lunch time to please the hungry crowd.
Four-legged family members were also in attendance, with poodles and French bulldogs among the pets brought to Kooyong voting centres.
Libs slam Labor for ‘lowest of lows’
The Liberal Party has accused Labor of “gutter tactics” after their campaign signs mysteriously appeared on a war memorial in Melbourne’s southeast.
A Liberal spokesman has claimed that the corflutes were not placed there by volunteers, after a state Labor MP called them out for the “appalling” move.
“At the beginning of prepoll, a Labor volunteer stole Liberal signs — and admitted to doing so” a spokesman said.
“Now, without our knowledge, Liberal signs have appeared on a war memorial (not put there by us), but Labor just happened to be close by to pull them down, before we were even aware that some mischievous person had put them there.
“This all seems too good to be true — and very possibly the lowest of lows from a desperate Labor campaign.”
The Labor Party was contacted for comment.
Monique Ryan’s husband promotes climate action
Monique Ryan’s husband, Peter Jordan, has been spotted handing out “climate scorecards” at an Armadale voting booth.
But unlike the rest of his wife’s supporters donning teal Monique Ryan T-shirts, Mr Jordan was wearing a white T-shirt reading “climate action now”.
The scorecard, created by climate warriors Lighter Footprints, shows just Dr Ryan and the Greens candidate ticking all of the boxes for policies on climate.
Mr Jordan has been kept away from the spotlight since being caught on video pulling down a Liberal Party campaign sign promoting Amelia Hamer.
The footage made headlines across the country earlier in the campaign, prompting him to apologise.
The contest for Kooyong has been one of the most fiery battles in the nation.
Held on a margin of just 2.2 per cent, the final hours of the campaign could be crucial.
Just six hours to go!
‘Vote for humanity’
A community group in Melbourne’s northeast — not believed to be aligned to any political party — has been handing out how-to-vote cards of its own.
The group “Menzies for Humanity” was seen distributing pamphlets at Birralee Primary School in Doncaster which encouraged people to “vote for humanity”.
It had independent candidate Stella Yee as its first preference and Greens candidate Bill Pheasant in second.
The how-to-vote card says it was authorised by Rita Manessis, a member of Menzies for Palestine, whose Templestowe driveway was vandalised last year with Islamophobic graffiti.
A Menzies for Palestine Facebook post — with the how to vote card attached — said its goal was “more seats to independents and greens to try to be able to push policy that works for people over profits.”
The Liberal Party has held Menzies since the seat was first proclaimed and contested in 1984.
It’s currently held by Keith Wolahan.
Tim Wilson greets volunteers
Goldstein Liberal candidate Tim Wilson has arrived at the Hampton Primary School about 11.30am, donning the same bright blue shirt as his volunteers.
Shaking hands and greeting voters and volunteers alike Mr Smith said he was “upbeat” and enjoying the day.
The Liberal candidate is looking to snatch the seat from Independent Zoe Daniels, with it expected to be a tight run, two horse race between the pair.
Liberal MP under fire over war memorial posters
10.30am: Liberal candidate for Dunkley, Nathan Conroy, is facing criticism after his corflutes were displayed on a war memorial.
A video posted on Instagram by state MP for Frankston Paul Edbrooke shows him and a Liberal volunteer taking the posters down.
“Using a Frankston war memorial for your political signs……. Appalling,” he wrote. “Fine me if you want, but I will not tolerate anyone disrespecting soldiers who died for this country.”
‘People want change’
Bruce Liberal Party candidate Zahid Safi arrived at Dandenong Stadium to vote early on Saturday morning.
Mr Safi said they had done a lot of hard work and the issues his electorate faced were cost of living, crime and housing affordability.
Asked if he was confident about the result, Mr Safi replied “we believe the people of Bruce want change”.
Teal candidate slaps up signs
Teal independent Ben Smith has completely wrapped primary schools across the Mornington Peninsula in his signs.
The bright yellow wrap was put up overnight along kilometres of fencing on public primary schools being used as polling places, including Mount Martha Primary School, Benton Junior College, Osborne Primary and Mount Eliza Primary.
Mr Smith, who has come under fire for bringing in anti-Israel protestors to run his campaign, employed security guards overnight to protect the signage.
Teal independent Ben Smith has had a busy night. Primary schools across Flinders are completely wrapped in his yellow signage. And he's employed security guards to stop anyone ripping it down. #heraldsunpic.twitter.com/UIruo4XcH8
— lucy callander (@LucyKCallander) May 2, 2025
The Herald Sun understands a complaint has been made to the education department about the signs.
Mr Smith is attempting to “flip Flinders” which is a safe Liberal seat held by Zoe McKenzie.
Backed by Climate 200 he is believed to have spent $2m on his campaign which has included tactics such as volunteers “swarming” public places and dancing on the side of the road waving signs.
Albanese, Dutton kick off day in Melbourne
The Prime Minister started his day in Melbourne with a series of TV interviews broadcast live from the MCG.
He took aim at Peter Dutton’s policy backflips and late announcement of cuts to things like super on paid parental leave, student debt relief, free TAFE and paid pracs for nursing and teacher students.
Mr Albanese said Labor was aiming to pick up additional seats, not just hold its current 78, naming the seats of Menzies and Deakin in Victoria among places he was hoping his candidates would be successful.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton kickstarted the day with a whistle-stop tour of Melbourne coffee spots beginning in Brighton.
This is in the seat of Goldstein, which Liberal Tim Wilson is hoping to seize back from Teal Zoe Daniel after a shock 2022 loss.
He then refuelled at the Liberty petrol station in Gorton.
Mr Dutton arrived in a “double trouble” van with the faces of Anthony Albanese and Jacinta Allan on the side.
He was joined at the stop by Coalition campaign spokesman James Paterson.
Victorian voters weigh up key issues
Federal Labor’s biggest challenge has been trying to curtail voter backlash towards Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, with Peter Dutton this week sharpening his attack that a vote for Anthony Albanese is a vote for more debt and more crime seen under the Victorian government.
The Liberals need to gain up to eight seats in Victoria to secure a majority government.
This is an enormous task after the bruising loss of four heartland seats, including the prized blue-ribbon electorate of Kooyong to Teal MP Monique Ryan at the 2022 poll.
The Liberals sought to temper expectations going into the campaign, saying the party was confident of winning three Labor seats.
These include the outer eastern suburbs electorate of Aston – which Labor claimed in a historic win at the 2023 by-election – and eastern suburbs seat of Chisholm.
It also hopes to seize on anger towards the state, housing crisis, poor health services and roads in the target seat of McEwen north of Melbourne.
Labor insiders have all but written off Aston and have serious concerns about the other two.
But Liberal sources and Mr Dutton have refused to put a figure on what would constitute a good result in the critical state.
The opposition has vowed to scrap Labor’s $2.2bn commitment, as well as $2bn for the “gold plated” upgrade of Sunshine Station.
Instead, it will redirect $1.5bn to the long awaited Melbourne Airport Rail project, and $1.1bn on vital road upgrades.
The move plays into frustration towards state Labor in Melbourne’s western suburbs after it experienced a massive 10.1 per cent two-party preferred swing at the Werribee by-election.
Swings are also expected in Melbourne’s west including Hawke and Gorton, and southeastern electorates of Dunkley and Bruce.
But the opposition has failed to explain how it will invest the remaining $1.6bn in funding, despite Mr Dutton saying voters would have the details before May 3.
All eyes will also be on the big spend from Climate 200 backed independent candidates amid desperate pleas to boost the war chests of Kooyong MP Monique Ryan and Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel in the final week of the campaign.
The affluent seat of Kooyong has become ground zero for dirty tactics during the campaign, with Dr Ryan’s own husband caught stealing a large sign of Liberal opponent Amelia Hamer.
Anti-Semitism is a major issue in Ms Daniel’s Bayside electorate – which has a large Jewish population – where she is facing a rematch with Liberal Tim Wilson.
Anger over the government’s response to the war in Gaza will also play a key role in the neighbouring inner Melbourne electorate of Macnamara, which is held by Jewish MP Josh Burns on a 12.2 per cent margin.
The redraw of electoral boundaries created headaches for Labor, moving Greens booths from leader Adam Bandt’s electorate of Melbourne into the neighbouring electorate of Wills.
Labor sources believe they now have a 50-50 chance of holding the seat against high-profile Greens candidate Samantha Ratnam. This is because more voters are now expected to support the Greens over Labor, after the threat of Mr Dutton’s becoming leader subsided following early missteps during the campaign.
Preference flows are expected to play a key role in the three-way race in the rural electorate of Monash, where independent candidate Deb Leonard, Liberal candidate Mary Aldred, and former Liberal member turned independent Russell Broadbent will battle it out.
Polling has also shown a tight contest in the western Victorian seat of Wannon where senior Liberal Dan Tehan will again go head-to-head with independent and former radio host Alex Dyson.
Labor insiders dismissed claims from the grassroots independent movement that they were concerned about Calwell – amid dismay from Muslim voters over the government’s position on the Israel-Palestine conflict – where Labor MP Maria Vamvakinou is retiring.
Originally published as Federal Election 2025: Victorian voters have their say as polls close
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