Chisholm: Gladys Liu and Carina Garland fight for seat of Chisholm

All eyes will be on Victoria’s most marginal seat this evening, after Liberal Gladys Liu and Labor’s Carina Garland fought for every last vote in Chisholm.

Liberal Gladys Liu and Labor’s Carina Garland fought for every vote at polling stations in Victoria’s most marginal seat, Chisholm, on Saturday. Picture: Kiel Egging.

Long lines, plenty of snags and flyers in the shapes of ukuleles have been dished out at polling booths in Victoria’s most marginal seat in Melbourne’s east.

Incumbent Liberal Gladys Liu and Labor challenger Carina Garland were fighting for every last vote as they toured Chisholm on Saturday.

Ms Liu held the seat by 0.5 per cent prior to the poll and was optimistic of securing a second term representing the electorate, which covers affluent and multicultural suburbs including Glen Waverley, Box Hill, Mt Waverley, Burwood East and Blackburn.

She spent more than two hours at Pinewood Primary School in Mt Waverley in the afternoon, which had consistently long queues of voters.

Liberal Chisholm MP Gladys Liu greets voters in the queue at Pinewood Primary School in Mount Waverley in the final hours of voting at the 2022 federal election on May 21. Picture: Kiel Egging.

“I am pumped, I am excited and I really enjoyed the chance to speak with my constituents, and I have had a few hugs with people,” Ms Liu said.

“Time will tell, we only have a few hours to go, but from conversations I’ve had with people … they appreciate what I’ve done from the community, and they’ve told me they want me to win and continue the good work.”

Ms Garland was visited by her parents and grandmother while campaigning at Mount View Primary School in Glen Waverley, and also scored some appropriately red-coloured lolly snakes to snack on from volunteers.

She posed with a unionist handing out anti-Scott Morrison flyers in the shape of ukuleles to voters, in reference to the PM’s ill-timed holiday in Hawaii during the 2019 summer bushfires.

Labor Chisholm candidate Carina Garland with Unionist Claire Boland giving out anti-Scott Morrison ukulele shaped pamphlets at Mount View Primary School in Glen Waverley. Picture: Kiel Egging.

On the back, the flyers encouraged voters to ‘sack’ Mr Morrison and to preference the Liberals and Ms Liu last.

“Isn’t democracy wonderful,” Ms Garland said when asked about the flyers.

Ms Garland said she was hopeful of delivering some “big significant changes” to Chisholm if elected and would be “moving around polling booths until every last vote is cast”.

“It’s important we say what we’re going to do and for me there will be a lot of local projects that I will prioritise if I’m elected, so people’s faith in politics is restored too.”

According to Ms Garland, about 56 per cent of Chisholm voters had already cast their votes at pre-poll centres prior to Saturday.

Ms Garland said she enjoyed a “democracy sausage” from Pinewood PS’s stall for her breakfast in the morning, but Ms Liu did not make a visit during her campaigning.

Joanna Forbes, Mila Jin, Anne Anstee and Eileen Forbes have gone through more 50kg of sausages for hungry voters at Pinewood Primary School in Mt Waverley in the seat of Chisholm during the 2022 federal election on May 21. Picture: Kiel Egging.

The school’s sausage sizzle stall was popular with workers behind the barbecue saying they had gone through more than 50kg of sausages and sold more than 1000 throughout the day.

Both candidates have picked bowls clubs in the electorate for their official functions.

Ms Liu said she had champagne ready if she prevailed tonight, while Ms Garland said she would be starting on soft drinks after polls close, and possibly celebrating with something stronger later in the night.