Richmond
Margin: Labor 6.4% versus Greens
Region: Northern Metropolitan
Federal: Batman (56%)/Melbourne (44%)
Candidates in ballot paper order
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NEVENA SPIROVSKA STEPHEN JOLLY MIRANDA SMITH TOM KEEL WEIRAN LU KATHLEEN MALTZAHN RICHARD WYNNE SARAH KNIGHT |
2010 BOOTH RESULTS MAP |
PAST RESULTS |
DEMOGRAPHICS |
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RESULTS MAP: Two-party preferred booth results from 2010 state election showing Labor majority in red and Greens in green. New boundaries in thicker blue lines, old ones in thinner red lines. Boundary data courtesy of Ben Raue of The Tally Room.
PAST RESULTS: Break at 1999 represents effect of the subsequent redistribution.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Based on 2012 census. School Leavers is percentage of high school graduates divided by persons over 18. LOTE is number identified as speaking language other than English at home, divided by total population.
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The electorate of Richmond is located immediately east of the city, and matches Melbourne and Brunswick as the strongest electorate for the Greens. Melbourne and Richmond together correspond almost exactly with the federal electorate of Melbourne, the only Greens-held seat in the House of Representatives. With the Yarra River as its southern boundary, the electorate extends from Richmond and Cremorne in the south through Fitzroy, Collingwood and Abbotsford to Clifton Hill. The redistribution has made only minor changes, aligning the northern boundary with Brunswick along Park Street so that 600 voters are gained and 200 lost.
Richmond has had an uninterrupted existence as an electorate going back to 1856, and was first won by Labor in 1891. Labor has held it continuously since 1908, barring a three-year Democratic Labor Party interruption following the split of 1955. After neglecting to field a candidate in 1999, the Greens burst on to the scene at the 2002 election, outpolling the Liberals and coming to within 3.1% of defeating Labor after preferences. However, they failed to advance on that in 2006, and the Liberals’ decision to direct preferences against them in 2010 put the seat further out of reach. The Greens gained a further 3.7% on the primary vote, while Labor’s crashed by 9.1%, but the changed flow of preferences was such that Labor’s margin at the final count increased by 2.6%.
The member since 1999 has been Dick Wynne, Lord Mayor of Melbourne from 1990 to 1991 and a staffer to MPs including Hawke-era Deputy Prime Minister Brian Howe. A member of the Socialist Left sub-faction associated with upper house MP Gavin Jennings, Wynne came to the seat in 1999 after his predecessor, Demetri Dollis, was dumped following an outcry over the amount of time he was spending abroad. Wynne was appointed to cabinet after the 2006 election as Housing and Local Government Minister, adding Aboriginal affairs to his responsibilities in August 2007 following Steve Bracks’ departure. In opposition he has held the shadow portfolios of housing, local government and Aboriginal affairs.
The Greens have again endorsed their candidate from 2010, Kathleen Maltzahn, an author on sex trafficking and advocate for sex workers – although more critical voices on the left have called her stance anti-sex work.
An automated phone poll of 414 respondents conducted for the Greens a month out for the election by Lonergan Research showed them heading for victory in Melbourne by a 54-46 margin after preferences, from primary votes of 38% for the Greens, 29% for Labor and 21% for the Liberals.