Melbourne’s western and northern suburbs held strong for Labor as Anthony Albanese was returned as prime minister on Saturday.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton conceded the election at 9.30pm and congratulated Mr Albanese.
As of 9.30pm, Labor was ahead in 72 seats and projected to pick up a few more.
Fraser
The Liberals seem to have suffered a significant swing in Fraser or 7.16 per cent according to the Australian Electoral Commission as at 10pm on election night.
Votes have flowed to Family First, Greens and the Victorian Socialists, which all recorded an upswing in their primary vote in Fraser.
Sitting MP Daniel Mulino recorded a slight .5 per cent downturn in his primary vote. There were not two party preferred figures at the time of publication.
Mr Mulino’s margin,, which sat at more than 16 per cent before this election, is expected to increase when all votes are counted. The seat covers most of Brimbank, and following a redistribution, some northern parts of Hobsons Bay, is one of the Albanese government’s safest.
Satish Patel, was only announced as Liberal candidate for Fraser on April 7, more than a week after the election was called.The delay was caused by the party’s previous candidate, Luan Walker, having to stand down in March after being found in breach of Section 44 of the constitution by having dual Vietnamese citizenship.
Gellibrand
Labor has increased its majority in Gellibrand with the Australian Electoral Commission projecting a 6 per cent swing to the party on a two party preferred basis at 10pm on election night and comfortably returning sitting MP Tim Watts.
Mr Watts was projected to attract 67.2 per cent of the two party preferred vote compared to his Liberal rival’s 32.8 per cent.
The inner-west seat has been held by the Labor Party since it was created in 1949.
Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Tim Watts has held Gellibrand since 2013. Traditionally based around Footscray, the creation of the neighbouring seat of Fraser in 2018 meant Gellibrand was pushed to the south and west, taking in parts of the Wyndham council area such as Point Cook, Williams Landing and Truganina .
Meanwhile losing Yarraville means Gellibrand no longer takes in any part of the Maribyrnong council area and Spotswood and Brooklyn shifting to Fraser means it no longer covers all of Hobson’s Bay either.
Gorton
Gorton has a new MP with Alice Jordon-Baird succeeding long-serving retiring Labor MP Brendan O’Connor. Mr O’Connor previously held the seat of Burke from 2001 to 2004, which was in place before the formation of Gorton, meaning he had represented much of the area for 24 years.
Labor attracted a 2.4 per cent swing on a two party preferred basis according to the Australian Electoral Commission on election night.
New MP Alice Jordon-Baird attracted 62.3 per cent of the two party preferred vote, compared to her Liberal rival, John Fletcher’s 37.62 per cent.
Gorton covers Brimbank and Melton with much of the electorate part of the growth areas between the Melton township and Brimbank.
The electorate includes Caroline Springs, Burnside, Hillside, Fraser Rise, Taylors Hill, Albanvale, Deer Park, Kings Park, Delahey, Sydenham, Taylors Lakes and Keilor.
The Labor Party promised budget funding for both upgrades to the Western Freeway and Calder Park Drive.
Hawke
Hawke MP Sam Rae attracted a small swing in line with the broader ALP swing nationally to comfortably retain Hawke. As of 10pm on election night, the Australian Electoral Commission predicted a 1.8 per cent swing to Labor in Hawke which was created in 2022 after a boundary redistribution. Mr Rae attracted 59.4 of the two party preferred vote compared to 40.5 per cent for his Liberal rival Simmone Cottom as of 10pm on election night.
Covering 1986 square kilometres and including Sunbury, Melton, Bacchus Marsh, and Ballan, the electorate was first contested at the last election.
The seat was visited by opposition leader Peter Dutton four times during the campaign.
Lalor
Labor increased its vice-like grip on Lalor recording a 3.36 per cent swing according to the Australian Electoral Commission predicted outcome on election night.
The swing to Labor followed a 16.5 per cent swing against the party’s primary vote in February’s Werribee state by-election.
Sitting MP Joanne Ryan was re-elected for a fifth time attracting a 3.36 per swing to Labor gaining 66 per cent two party preferred votes as at 10pm on election night. Her Liberal rival, Mira D’Silva, attracted 34 per cent of the two party preferred vote.
The seat, which includes the suburbs of Werribee, Hoppers Crossing, Tarneit, Williams Landing and parts of Truganina and Point Cook, has been held by Labor since 1969.
After an electoral restructure in 2022, Lalor lost about 10,000 voters in parts of Truganina, Williams Landing and Point Cook to Gellibrand in the east.
Despite the seat shrinking in area from 464 to 180 square kilometres, much of which was down to a thinly populated corridor in Little River that was redistributed to Corio, Labor’s margin remained relatively unchanged.
Maribyrnong
Maribyrnong has a new MP but it is likely it will remain a Labor stronghold.
As of 9pm, the AEC was projecting that Labor would win the seat 65.76 per cent to the Liberal Party’s 34.24 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.
Those figures represent a 2.05 per cent swing to Labor.
According to the AEC, Labor’s Jo Briskey 41.58 per cent of first preferences, with 64 per cent of polling booths counted.
Liberal candidate Tim Beddoe had 28.69 per cent.
Bill Shorten retired as Maribyrnong MP in January, having represented the seat since 2007.
Prior to the election, Labor held the seat by a margin of 13 per cent.
Based in Melbourne’s western suburbs, Maribyrnong covers 70 square kilometres between CityLink and Pascoe Vale Road in the east, and the Maribyrnong River in the west.
Among the suburbs it covers is Gladstone Park, Keilor Park and Tullamarine.
Labor has held the seat from 1969 and is classed a very safe seat heading into the election.
