Goldstein voters have their say ahead of federal election

With the federal election looming, we asked voters at a bellwether booth in Goldstein what their key concerns are. This is what they had to say.

Caulfield Primary School on Glenhuntly Rd in Caulfield South is a classic bellwether voting booth. Ahead of the 2022 federal election between Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese, we asked voters what their key concerns were. ​

With the federal election looming, voters in the key seat of Goldstein appear to have clearly defined issues at the centre of their mind.

They are energy prices, cost of living, and the state of the federal budget after the record deficits recorded by the government led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

Goldstein is typically a stronghold for the Liberal Party, and it encompasses the southern suburbs of Elsternwick, Caulfield South, Brighton, Sandringham and Cheltenham.

The voting booth of Caulfield Primary School is known as a bellwether seat, where voters have predicted the result of each election since 2004.

The seat is held by Tim Wilson, who was elected to parliament in 2016 and re-elected in 2019.

Mr Wilson retained the seat in 2019 despite a 6 per cent swing to the Labor Party.

The electorate has a median age of 42, which is more than 5 years above the state average, while nearly 40 per cent of the population has attained the level of a bachelor degree or above, compared to the state average.

A higher percentage of Goldstein voters own their own home compared to the rest of the state and median household and family incomes are significantly above the state average.

Unsurprisingly for a seat that has been in Liberal hands since its inception in 1984, locals said their votes would be heading the way of the Coalition.

“If you look at the diabolical shape of government budgets around the world, that’s not where we want to go,” Leon Naftal said.

“We want competent government, and that’s not what Labor Party give us,” Mr Naftal said.

“I don’t like Morrison, but I’ll be backing the Liberal Party.”

Rebecca Naftal said she was concerned about the push to renewable energy and the impact this would have on energy prices.

“Do they want us huddled around a fire a night?” Ms Naftal said.

“It’s ridiculous. If they knew how bad things had been for our parents, then they wouldn't be advocating for these types of policies.”

Ilana Bourke owns Big Belly Burgers on the corner of Hawthorn and Glen Huntly roads, a stone’s throw from voting booth.

She said cost of living and energy was her number one concern.

“To live here in general is expensive,” Ms Bourke said.

“The cost of supplying meat and vegetables at my business has gone up 30-40 per cent but its income has remained the same,” she said.

Ms Bourke said that gas and electricity prices were also a concern of hers, as was ensuring there was no return to pandemic restrictions.

“Particularly the elderly need to be out and about. It’s so important for their mental health.”

Helen Gelb and her husband, Joe, said that they would vote for the Liberal Party.

As two survivors of the Holocaust, they said it was important that no one party had too much power.

“That leads to autocracy,” Ms Gelb said.