Grattan on Friday: The battle for Victoria will send important signals to federal players

Victoria's state election on November twenty-eight has become a national bellwether for Australian politics, The Conversation reports. Labor, reeling from an anti-corruption report about a secret firefighters' union deal released Wednesday, installed a new premier, Ben Carroll, to limit its losses. But it's the battle between the Coalition and One Nation on the right that's captured attention: if One Nation gains seats—especially in the upper house—their momentum will accelerate nationally, worsening the center-right opposition's crisis. Recent polling shows the Coalition at thirty percent, Labor at twenty-three, and One Nation at twenty-two—down sharply from June, when One Nation led at twenty-seven—though analysts say Victoria's deep trauma from record COVID lockdowns is still shaping voters' choices.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton