Labor MPs are expected to be returned in seats across the west, including in Brimbank’s electorates, according to a Monash University political expert.
Dr Zareh Ghazarian said voters in the west are concerned about issues such as access to services, facilities and infrastructure amid rapid housing and population growth.
He said they are also focussed on broader issues such as healthcare, education and transport service provision – all of which he said have dominated the election campaign so far.
Dr Ghazarian said while there is some anti-Labor sentiment in the community, he doesn’t believe there will be a big enough swing against the government for it to lose the election.
“It still looks like this is Labor’s election to lose,” he said.
Brimbank is split across five electorates – St Albans, Sydenham, Kororoit, Laverton and Niddrie – which are all considered to very safe Labor seats, despite boundary changes to several electorates.
Dr Ghazarian said that if Labor was to lose a seat like St Albans, which it holds by a margin of 22 per cent, “then it probably can’t hold onto government”.
Labor’s Natalie Suleyman has held St Albans since 2014.
If seats like St Albans are lost … then something has happened in the electorate that polling hasn’t picked up,” Dr Ghazarian said.
Labor also enjoys a significant margin in Kororoit (25.3 per cent). Retiring MP Marlene Kairouz has held the seat since a 2008 by-election.
In Sydenham, Labor has a margin of 17.7 per cent, with Natalie Hutchins first elected to the seat in 2014.
Labor’s Ben Carroll has a 12.5 per cent margin in Niddrie. He has held the seat since a 2012 by-election.
Brimbank’s last electorate is the new seat of Laverton. The seat is notionally considered to be a very safe Labor seat, with the party predicted to secure a margin of about 23 per cent.
