Victorian Labor Faces Wipeout Fears as Voters Say Ready to Punish Carroll

Labor's slim cushion

Labor holds 54 of the 88 seats in the state's lower house. After 12 years in government, its September switch of leader from Jacinta Allan to Carroll does not look enough to win voters back.

North-west Melbourne is usually a red wall for Labor. The Coalition has not won a metro seat north or west of the Yarra River in 30 years.

Carroll holds Niddrie by 6.7%. Josh Bull holds Sunbury by 6.4%.

What voters said

Natasha, who preferred not to give her family name, spoke outside Carroll's electorate office. She named education and "crime, there's a lot of car theft in the area, a lot of burglaries - just community safety."

Frank Stephens said he is voting for One Nation, the right-wing nationalist party, because it is "on track to straighten out things." He will put Labor last on his ballot. "Labor's shown how bad they are, the other two are useless," he said.

Robert, another voter at Gladstone Park, said "Victoria needs a new government, because the handling of the state has been very corrupt."

A group of five retirees said they have "no confidence" in Carroll's Labor. Glen Bausch, 64, said cost-of-living worries were "falling on deaf ears" under Carroll, while One Nation was "actually listening."

Several in the group had Mediterranean migrant backgrounds, the same working-class demographic that helped make north-west Melbourne a Labor stronghold. Some now feel the Liberals are no better than Labor, and that loyalty is shifting to One Nation.

Another member of the group, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Labor had "sold us out." He said he had worked 47 years driving a truck and could now "hardly get money enough to eat."

One Nation's pull

Interest in One Nation often stems from federal issues such as immigration and the personal popularity of leader Pauline Hanson, not from state leader Warren Pickering.

Colin Wakefield, from Frankston, said he admires Hanson's "consistency." He worries Australia lacks the infrastructure to support immigration.

Elsa, a former Labor voter who withheld her full name because of a family link to a Labor politician, said she has switched to One Nation. She said she tells relatives she is still voting with them. She linked housing costs to illegal immigration.

In Frankston, Margaret Andrews said she votes Liberal because its candidates "mostly had a real job before politics."