What’s different about The Age’s federal election coverage

When usually dreary suburban streets become kaleidoscopes of corflutes and the local train station goes from a silent place of routine into a forum of democratic discussion, I still feel a pang of excitement.

Elections are won and lost in places like this. Supermarket carparks, netball club barbecues and street parties.

Tim Wilson hands out Easter eggs outside Woolworths in Moorabbin.Credit: Daniel Pockett

Even the loftiest promises and most performative appearances of party leaders can’t pry a seat from an incumbent who has captured the attention of locals with a powerful idea. Conversely, there is nothing anyone can do to save a candidate believed to have let down their community and broken the trust of voters.

Given their significance to the nation’s political complexion, these contests don’t often receive the kind of public attention they deserve. After all, this is where groups like the teals and country independents carved out a place in Australia’s parliament, eroding part of the historic dominance of the major parties. The leaders may be the ones who announce the policies that shape the country, but these local campaigns ultimately decide who leads it.

That’s why we’ve chosen to embed journalists in several Victorian electorates for the duration of the campaign to scrutinise local candidates, monitor community discussions and assess what politicians call the “ground game” in these electorates. And given the importance of Victorian seats to the prospects of both major parties, these things will be crucial in May when it comes time to decide on the federal government.

Charlotte Grieve has been taking the temperature – and sampling more than her fair share of the culinary delights – in the electorate of Bruce in Melbourne’s south-east. Don’t be fooled into thinking Bruce, which takes in suburbs like Dandenong, Doveton and Narre Warren, is a typical outer suburban contest between the Labor and Liberal parties. This complex and diverse electorate has already thrown up some fascinating stories as Zahid Safi seeks to become the Liberals’ first Muslim MP by closing the 6.6 per cent margin (perhaps less after a redistribution) of Julian Hill, TikTok star and Labor’s assistant minister for citizenship and multicultural affairs.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in the electorate of Bruce with Zahid Safi to his right and Jason Wood to his left. Credit: James Brickwood

Safi and Liberal frontbencher Jason Wood were heckled into leaving a mosque in the electorate, which has a sizeable Muslim population, early in the campaign. Last week, Safi’s campaign manager vacated the role after Grieve went to the party with questions about some rather intemperate social media posts. Hill, meanwhile, has defended his status as “genuine local” in response to persistent rumours he doesn’t actually live in the electorate. In response to our questions, Hill dismissed the rumours as “rubbish” and said his primary residence is in Dandenong, but admitted he sometimes stays at properties in Port Melbourne and Canberra.

Melbourne’s teal-held seats of Kooyong and Goldstein were always going to be fascinating contests after the shock of seven teals, backed by Simon Holmes a Court’s Climate 200, being elected to the lower house in 2022. This is why we dispatched Rachael Dexter and Cara Waters, respectively.

In Kooyong, Monique Ryan faces a new challenger after vanquishing former treasurer Josh Frydenberg in 2022. This time she faces the youthful fintech executive and grandniece of former Victorian premier Rupert “Dick” Hamer.

Ryan’s campaign suffered an early blow when her husband apologised after being filmed removing a Hamer corflute and both the Kooyong and Golstein campaigns have been plagued by allegations of push polling in recent days. Amelia Hamer has had her fair share of challenges too, having pitched herself as a struggling renter before The Age revealed she owns two investment properties.

Liberal candidate for Kooyong Amelia Hamer on the campaign trail with shadow treasurer Angus Taylor.Credit: Instagram

In Goldstein, where Liberal Tim Wilson is trying to wrest his old seat back from former ABC journalist and teal incumbent Zoe Daniel, we’ve seen everything from bunny ears (Wilson) to dog bandanas (Daniel) as the candidates attempt to capture the attention of the electorate. The pair have also engaged in some serious discussion already, including a fiery debate at the Goldstein Jewish Community Forum where booing and raucous applause from the audience left the candidates with clear feedback as to what attendees thought about their responses to the wave of antisemitism affecting the electorate’s sizeable Jewish population.

Clay Lucas has been posted to Wills, which stretches north from the hipster haven of Brunswick, through Coburg and into the culturally diverse northern suburbs of Fawkner, Hadfield and Glenroy. A boundary change to include more of the former and less of the latter has put high-profile Labor incumbent Peter Khalil on the back foot from the start as he attempts to defend a challenge from former Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam.

As you can see, each of these electorates is fascinating in its own right. Others are piquing our interest too, so don’t be surprised if we end up adding another one or two to our Hot Seats coverage, the place where these reporters file updates from their assigned electorates. Each Monday of the campaign, we start a new article that you can find here along with all the coverage from previous weeks.

For me, this is one of the most exciting branches of our federal election coverage. It is something you won’t see any other publication doing with anywhere near the level of depth and detail. The initial idea came from my predecessor, Gay Alcorn, who experimented during the 2022 campaign with a hyper-focus on the electorates of Chisholm and Kooyong. Those contests provided our readers with such valuable insight into how political campaigns are run that we decided to expand the concept this election and bring the coverage together into a single destination.

For those equally interested in the bigger picture, fear not. My enthusiasm for this initiative has not dampened our commitment to covering the meaningful policy discussions and contest of leadership taking place across the country. Our Canberra bureau, led by the indefatigable Michelle Griffin and her deputy, Nick Bonyhady, has been working tirelessly to make sure The Age’s subscribers are among the nation’s best informed voters. Your feedback tells me you are as grateful as I am for the work and commitment of them and the talented reporters in their bureau.

In addition to bringing you constant news on policy changes and commitments, our Canberra journalists have found plenty of innovative ways to help you make your choice in May. Here are a few highlights:

• Millie Muroi’s examination of the Coalition and Labor’s policies on housing affordability and the difference they could make to the lives of people trying to buy a home.
• Mike Foley, Muroi and Angus Delaney’s illuminating look at the places the leaders have visited most during the campaign and what we can learn from that.
• Natassia Chrysanthos’ look at where the major parties stand on a range of issues.

I know not everyone enjoys election campaigns as much as I do, but I implore you to spend some time exploring our offering. You will certainly learn something. You might even enjoy it.

Before I get back to checking tomorrow’s stories and wish you all a safe and happy Easter, I have a small treat for our premium subscribers. It’s not chocolate, sorry, but it lasts longer and is much, much healthier.

We now have a new mini crossword for our puzzle fiends. Give it a try here. After completing my first one in 35 seconds I felt quite smug, but sadly I have been unable to replicate the feat since. Warning: it’s addictive.

Happy Easter everybody.