Greens lag in progressive heartlands; Liberals are ‘teal-washed’ out of Boroondara

The Greens are lagging in their inner-Melbourne heartlands, while Liberals have been “wiped out” in a key conservative council in the city’s east by “teal”-type independents, early voting patterns for the local government elections show.

Finalised results from Victoria’s council elections will not be entirely published by the Victorian Electoral Commission until November 15 – three weeks after the postal vote deadline.

Boroondara deputy mayor Felicity Sinfield is the only Liberal left on Boroondara council.Credit: Simon Schluter

But since polls closed on October 25, The Age has obtained primary vote counts for a number of councils for group A, which is all votes received by the postal deadline, accounting for about 85 per cent of all votes cast statewide.

Despite only preliminary results being available, there have already been clear shifts in some traditional left-wing and right-wing councils.

Yarra council, which takes in Fitzroy, Richmond and Collingwood, was acknowledged as the country’s first Greens-dominated local council in 2020, with five of nine councillors from the party.

But the vote counts so far for this election show the minor party only has two candidates with any chance of re-election; incumbent mayor Edward Crossland and incumbent councillor Sophie Wade.

From left: Yarra For All independent candidates Victoria Chipperfield, Michael Glynatsis, Stephen Jolly, Bridgid O’Brien, Peter Sprott, Eva Aston, Theresa Saldanha, Brielle Pope, Ken Gomez, Sharon Harrison and campaign chief of staff Catherine Mililli.Credit: Jason South

A coalition of so-called independents who ran under the banner “Yarra For All”, spearheaded by long-time Yarra councillor and former Victorian Socialist member Stephen Jolly, ran an aggressive anti-Greens campaign, resulting in independents ahead in at least five of the nine wards.

It is too early to consider Crossland or Wade safe, with Crossland on 32 per cent of the primary vote being challenged by two Yarra For All candidates and Wade on 33 per cent under challenge from independents.

“It seems like Yarra For All has done very well, but [it’s] hard to say until group B comes in,” said Ben Raue, election analyst and founder of the Tallyroom.

Group B votes are the smaller batch of postal ballots that arrived in the week after the postal deadline and are being counted this week. If a winner is not clear after group B, preferences will be counted.

Further north in Darebin, which takes in Northcote, Reservoir and Thornbury, Greens held three of nine council spots after the 2020 election.

But counting in this election so far indicates Green wins are only possible in two wards, while Labor is currently ahead in six.

Last election, the Greens elected 36 councillors across the state. This election, they ran 124 candidates and have so far called six wins; Lucas Maddock in Mount Alexander Shire, Alida McKern and Peter Castaldo in Banyule council, Isabella Do in Dandenong, Olivia Ball in the City of Melbourne and Merri-bek incumbent mayor Adam Pulford.

The party has lost two council seats in Monash. Two former Greens councillors who sensationally quit the party earlier this year – Josh Fergeus and Anjalee de Silva – are set to keep their positions on council, but as independents.

The party is still in a competitive position in Merri-bek. In 2020, four Greens councillors were elected to the council. Apart from Pulford, four other Greens are still in close races; Jay Iwasaki, Liz Irvin, Ella Svensson and incumbent Angelica Panopoulos.

Meanwhile, in Boroondara, in the city’s east, there has been a major shift away from the Liberal Party to pro-environment “teal”-type independents in what one successful candidate has described as “a devastating rebuke of major party politics in local government”.

Before this election, Liberal Party members or Liberal-leaning councillors made up a majority of the council, but now it appears just one Liberal will be left – current deputy mayor Felicity Sinfield, in Cotham ward.

Rob Baillieu, son of former Liberal premier Ted Baillieu, is on track to win Riversdale ward, with 46 per cent of the primary votes counted in Group A. Baillieu was a volunteer manager for Kooyong independent Monique Ryan in the federal election and is president of Voices of Kooyong.

Ballieu told The Age remaining group A primary vote counts for the council pointed to a wipe-out for the Liberal Party.

“It’s safe to say Boroondara’s climate is changing,” he said, describing many candidates who were ahead as “climate-action-positive candidates”.

Sophie Torney, who ran as a teal independent in the state election, will likely win Studley ward (taking in parts of Kew), with 44 per cent of the primary vote, pushing out current councillor and Liberal Nick Stavrou.

Other likely Boroondara winners are incumbent independent Victor Franco, who has previously identified with the teal movement, the Greens’ Wes Gault, independent Michael Nolan and former mayor and independent Chris Pattas.

A major structural change occurred this election, with all metropolitan councils – except for City of Melbourne – shifting to single-member wards.

The Greens have previously criticised the changes, suggesting they made it more difficult for candidates from minor parties such as the Greens to be elected.

With Tom Cowie and Sophie Aubrey