Election 2025: Victorian teal MPs predict close contests in Kooyong and Goldstein

Victoria’s teal MPs are predicting a close result in the heated battles for Kooyong and Goldstein, as the candidates make their final pitches to voters.

Teal MPs in two of Victoria’s most hotly contested seats have made their election-eve pitches. Picture: Getty Images

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Victoria’s teal MPs are predicting close results in the heated battles for Kooyong and Goldstein, as the candidates make their final pitches to voters.

Teal independent Monique Ryan – who holds Kooyong by a 2.2 per cent margin against the Liberals – told The Australian on Friday she thought the race was “extremely close”.

Independent MP for Kooyong Monique Ryan at an early polling booth in Kew. Picture: Arsineh Houspian

“My pitch to the voters of Kooyong is that if they want representation that reflects their values, and a representative who can listen to them and amplify their values, both in the community and in Canberra, that they should vote independent,” Dr Ryan said.

Campaigning at a busy Kew polling booth on Friday, Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer said she was feeling “very confident” she would be able to win the seat.

“It’s been very, very good the last few days and all throughout the pre-poll period, a lot of support, a lot of people very proud to be voting Liberal,” Ms Hamer said.

“If people want to be able to get things done for Kooyong, if they want the country to go in the right direction, to get Australia back on track, they need to vote Liberal, and they need to vote Liberal here in Kooyong.”

Liberal candidate for Kooyong Amelia Hamer campaigning outside a polling booth in Kew. Picture: NewsWire/ David Crosling

Independent Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel wore a bedazzled cap and an equally flashy “welcome to fabulous Goldstein” chain as she campaigned outside a polling booth in Brighton on Friday.

The teal MP shared a similar sentiment to Dr Ryan, stating that while she was feeling “positive” about the election, she wasn’t going to “make any predictions”.

“I definitely have the kind of personality where I will assume I’m losing until I’ve won,” Ms Daniel told The Australian.

“My team and I will be out having every conversation we can and trying to fight for every vote until the booths close tomorrow.

“I would never take for granted or assume what people will do.”

Independent MP for Goldstein Zoe Daniel hands out how-to-vote cards at a polling booth in Brighton on Friday. Picture: Zoe De Koning

Ms Daniel urged voters in the Goldstein electorate, which encompasses affluent bayside suburbs including Brighton and Hampton, to “vote on the truth”.

“There’s a lot of misinformation flying around … so it’s really important that when you cast your vote, it’s based on facts,” she said. Ms Daniel holds the seat by a slim 1.80 per cent margin, according to the Australian Electoral Commission.

Further south in the neighbouring suburb of Hampton, Goldstein Liberal candidate Tim Wilson also engaged with voters at a pre-polling station on Friday.

Mr Wilson told The Australian he was “under no illusion about the scale of the task” of winning the seat back from Ms Daniel, who defeated him in 2022.

Liberal candidate for Goldstein Tim Wilson attends a pre-polling booth in Hampton on Friday. Picture: Zoe De Koning

“We’re very excited it will be over, whatever the result,” he said.

“Nervous but excited about it because the community will decide its destiny.

“What we’re seeing is a real clarity in our primary vote and we’re confident that … will lift from the last election. Whether it will be enough … will remain to be seen.”

Mr Wilson encouraged voters to consider whether they wanted “more of the same”.

“Do they want more of the same and all of the problems that we are confronting now or do they want change so that we can address the problems?” he said.