Greens claim the battleground seat of Richmond

There were ecstatic scenes at the Greens’ after party on Saturday night with Victorian party leader Samantha Ratnam declaring the result part of the “Greenslide” sweeping the state.

“It’s clear the Greens are on the rise and we are a force to be reckoned with.” Ratnam said. “These are seats Labor has taken for granted for far too long. No matter how many seats we end up with tonight, this is a Greenslide.

“And there is no doubt that the people of Victoria have voted for our vision of no new coal and gas, tackling the housing crisis, and restoring integrity back into politics.”

A Greens spokeswoman said that while the party was hopeful, it was still monitoring results in Northcote, Albert Park and Pascoe Vale and wouldn’t call the seats either way until Sunday. Earlier, Greens scrutineers reported swings of 5 to 10 per cent at booths across the electorate and 15 per cent in two-party preferred terms.

Cheers erupted as the party’s scrutineers reported the results, with more than 16 per cent of the vote counted. By 7pm, one booth was showing a 22.8 per cent swing to the Greens against Labor in two-party preferred terms, but others showed tighter contests.

The mood at Greens HQ grew increasingly buoyant as the night went on. Early in the night, the Greens claimed victory in Melbourne and Brunswick.

At 7:45pm, just 100 votes separated Greens candidate Gabrielle de Vietri and Labor’s Lauren O’Dwyer. Less than an hour later the Greens claimed victory in Richmond, too, with whoops and cheers filling the room.

Soon afterwards, the Greens claimed victory in Prahran and Northcote, though later said the latter was too close to call.

Senator Janet Rice said she was overwhelmed by the result.

“Times have changed. And just to be on the mission that I’ve been on since 1992 – 30 years ... of getting representation into parliaments of people you can really trust to stand up for the ordinary people, for the environment and to protect our climate, and it’s been realised.”

Greens Senator Janet Rice revs up the crowd of party volunteers by declaring the party had won the seats of Melbourne and Brunswick.Credit: Justin McManus

Earlier, Labor MP Richard Wynne – who had held Richmond for 23 years – said it had been an honour to represent the electorate. Labor candidate O’Dwyer was preselected to run in Wynne’s place and faced an uphill battle to sandbag the seat against the Greens, with a burgeoning vote across Melbourne’s inner suburbs.

Greens supporters celebrate their newfound influence in Victorian politics on Saturday night.Credit: Justin McManus

Throughout the campaign, de Vietri had been favourite to claim victory as the first Greens MP for Richmond, held by Labor since 1908, except in 1955-58, when it was briefly held by the Democratic Labour Party.

But the electorate’s fortunes are changing. The suburb of Richmond, which once bore the epithet of “Struggletown”, now sits within an electorate of the same name that has the highest weekly median personal income in Victoria.

Greens leader Samantha Ratnam was in a buoyant mood on the hustings at a polling booth in Brunswick East on Saturday.Credit: Eddie Jim

The electorate also has one of the largest concentrations of public housing in the state, and more than 53 per cent of the electorate live in rental homes, compared with the state average of 28.5 per cent. This is a similar number to the neighbouring Greens-held seats of Melbourne (67 per cent) and Prahran (57 per cent).

The Greens claim the Liberals’ decision to direct preferences to them above Labor had no effect in Richmond, where they were pushed over the line by Animal Justice Party and Victorian Socialists’ preferences.

De Vietri wiped tears away as she thanked her “kickarse” team of volunteers and supporters.

“We know that change is possible, and tonight Richmond has voted with its values like never before and we have made that change happen.”

At the end of the speeches, Treaty by Yothu Yindi rang out across the bar.

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