Swing to Libs in CBD voting

The CBD voted overwhelmingly Green in the July 2 federal election, but both the Greens and ALP lost ground to the Liberal Party.

Votes cast in the five CBD booths show 6023 first preference votes going to incumbent Greens candidate Adam Bandt, 4016 votes for Liberal candidate Philip Liu and 2941 votes flowing to ALP hopeful Sophie Ismail.

Mr Liu experienced swings of 7.06 per cent at the Town Hall booth, 2.98 per cent at the Little Lonsdale St booth, 3.77 at the Centre Point Arcade booth and 2.82 per cent at the Queen St booth.

The ALP lost ground in the four major CBD booths – suffering a 2.59 per cent swing against it at the Town Hall booth, -5.32 at Little Lonsdale St, -1.07 at Centre Point Arcade and -3.75 at Queen St.

The Greens also went backwards in some CBD booths.  At Town Hall, Mr Bandt lost -1.15 per cent.  He picked up 1.77 per cent at Little Lonsdale St, lost a further 2.13 per cent at Centre Point Arcade and picked up 1.59 per cent at Queen St.

Despite the Victorian Electoral Commission saying there were 7316 locals (postcode 3000) on the roll, 14,236 votes were recorded at CBD booths.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates the local population at 33,433.

The wider Melbourne electorate as a whole had the lowest voter participation in Victoria with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) admitting that fewer than 75 per cent of enrolled voters exercised their right.  Melbourne experienced the third-worst voter turnout in the country, coming in behind inner-metro Sydney and outback Northern Territory Lingiari.

Other inner-city electorates experienced participation rates in the 70-80 per cent range, particularly in NSW.

Residential areas such as Melbourne’s CBD experience extreme turnover, with renters, in particular, moving on more rapidly than in middle and outer metropolitan and rural areas.

A high overseas student population within the CBD can also help explain why less than half the CBD residential population appears to have voted. Voters must be Australian citizens to vote in federal elections.

CBD voting by booth:
BLV Melbourne, Urban Workshop, Lvl 1, 50 Lonsdale St, MELBOURNE VIC 3000
18 votes

FREEMAN-HARRISON, Lewis    Australian Sex Party    0    0.00    -0.01
ISMAIL, Sophie    Australian Labor Party    5    27.78    -9.75
LIU, Le    Liberal    4    22.22    -15.15
SMITH, Miranda Joyce    Animal Justice Party    0    0.00    +0.00
BANDT, Adam    The Greens    9    50.00    +29.09
RILEY, Matt    Drug Law Reform    0    0.00

Melbourne City Town Hall, 90-130 Swanston St, MELBOURNE VIC 3000
2,478 votes

FREEMAN-HARRISON, Lewis    Australian Sex Party    100    4.13    +0.51
ISMAIL, Sophie    Australian Labor Party    517    21.37    -2.59
LIU, Le    Liberal    735    30.38    +7.06
SMITH, Miranda Joyce    Animal Justice Party    49    2.03    +0.26
BANDT, Adam    The Greens    979    40.47    -1.15
RILEY, Matt    Drug Law Reform    39    1.61    +1.61

Dialogue, 27-29 Little Lonsdale St, MELBOURNE VIC 3000
3,248 votes
FREEMAN-HARRISON, Lewis    Australian Sex Party    135    4.23    +2.48
ISMAIL, Sophie    Australian Labor Party    677    21.22    -5.32
LIU, Le    Liberal    899    28.17    +2.98
SMITH, Miranda Joyce    Animal Justice Party    60    1.88    +1.17
BANDT, Adam    The Greens    1,384    43.37    +1.77
RILEY, Matt    Drug Law Reform    36    1.13    +1.13

Centrepoint Arcade, Level 1, 271 Bourke St, MELBOURNE VIC 3000
4,667 votes

FREEMAN-HARRISON, Lewis    Australian Sex Party    173    3.77    +1.87
ISMAIL, Sophie    Australian Labor Party    1,012    22.04    -1.07
LIU, Le    Liberal    1,208    26.31    +3.77
SMITH, Miranda Joyce    Animal Justice Party    78    1.70    +1.07
BANDT, Adam    The Greens    2,063    44.94    -2.13
RILEY, Matt    Drug Law Reform    57    1.24    +1.24

118 Queen St, 118 Queen St, MELBOURNE VIC 3000
3,825 votes
FREEMAN-HARRISON, Lewis    Australian Sex Party    158    4.21    +1.67
ISMAIL, Sophie    Australian Labor Party    730    19.46    -3.75
LIU, Le    Liberal    1,170    31.19    +2.82
SMITH, Miranda Joyce    Animal Justice Party    60    1.60    +0.89
BANDT, Adam    The Greens    1,588    42.34    +1.59
RILEY, Matt    Drug Law Reform    45    1.20    +1.20