RESEARCH PAPER SERIES, 2019–20              19 SEPTEMBER 2019

The 2018 Victorian state election: a quick guide

Dr Damon Muller

Politics and Public Administration Section

Introduction

The 2018 Victorian state election was held on Saturday 24 November 2018. This quick guide provides an overview of the results from the election for the Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the Legislative Council (upper house), early voting rates and participation rates.

The election was for all of Victoria's 88 Legislative Assembly seats and 40 Legislative Council seats. The lower house seats elect a single member by full preferential voting, and the upper house is divided into eight regions, each of which selects five members using single transferrable vote with group voting tickets.

Background

The Electoral Act 2002 (Vic.) requires that elections be held every four years on the last Saturday in November.

The previous Victorian state election was held on 29 November 2014 and saw Labor, led by Daniel Andrews, defeat the Coalition government after a single term. The 2014 election is discussed in a previous Parliamentary Library publication.

Early voting

Early voting continued to be a feature of Victorian elections, with slightly less than half of all voters casting an early vote on election day. The number and percentage of each type of votes is set out in Table 1 below. Pre-poll votes, which are early and postal votes, constituted 44.6 per cent of all votes in the election.

Table 1: Types of votes

Type

Votes

Percent

Ordinary

1 693 422

48.2

Early

1 298 323

36.9

Postal

264 996

7.5

Absent

232 890

6.6

Provisional

24 680

0.7

Marked As Voted

173

0.0

Source: Parliamentary Library analysis of Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) data

The rate of early voting varied between electorates, with three districts (St Albans, South-West Coast and Ovens Valley) recording more than 50 per cent of all votes as early votes. Figures 1 and 2 below compare the relevant rates of early voting across districts at the election.

Figure 1: Early voting rates in Legislative Assembly seats

Source: Parliamentary Library analysis of VEC data

Figure 2: Early voting rates in metropolitan Legislative Assembly seats

Source: Parliamentary Library analysis of VEC data

Results

The turnout rate for the election was 91.22 per cent of the 4,139,326 voters enrolled at the close of polls.[1]

The Australian Labor Party (ALP), led by Premier Daniel Andrews, was returned to office with 55 of the 88 Legislative Assembly seats—approaching two-thirds of the Assembly.

The seat of Ripon was initially called for the Labor candidate on the election night; however, following a recount by the Victorian Electoral Commission, the Liberal candidate was declared the winner by a margin of 15 votes.

Legislative Assembly

The final seat tally for the Legislative Assembly is set out in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Seats by party

Party

Seats

Percent

ALP

55

62.5

Liberals

21

23.9

Nationals

6

6.8

Independents

3

3.4

Greens

3

3.4

Source: Parliamentary Library analysis of VEC data

The overall state-wide first preferences votes cast for each party for the Legislative Assembly are set out in Table 3 below.

Table 3: First preference votes by party

Party

Votes

Percent

Labor

1 506 460

42.9

Liberals

1 069 287

30.4

Greens

376 470

10.7

Independents

212 912

6.1

Nationals

167 625

4.8

Animal Justice Party

63 970

1.8

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers (SFF)

24 257

0.7

Democratic Labour Party (DLP)

24 097

0.7

Victorian Socialists

15 223

0.4

Reason

12 695

0.4

Transport Matters

10 313

0.3

Sustainable Australia

8 183

0.2

Derry Hinch’s Justice Party (DHJP)

7 348

0.2

Australian Country Party (ACP)

6 566

0.2

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)

4 030

0.1

Aussie Battler

1 281

0.0

ALA

1 232

0.0

Source: Parliamentary Library analysis of VEC data

The informality rate for the Legislative Assembly vote was 5.86 per cent.

The results for each seat are available from the VEC website or by request from the Parliamentary Library.

The geographic distribution of the winning seats is set out in figures 3 and 4 below.

Figure 3: Winning party in Legislative Assembly seats

Source: Parliamentary Library analysis of VEC data

Figure 4: Winning party in metropolitan Legislative Assembly seats

Source: Parliamentary Library analysis of VEC data

Legislative Council

A total of 3,731,191 votes were cast for the Legislative Council, of which 3,583,478 were formal (96.04 per cent) and 147,713 were informal (3.96 per cent).

Each of the eight Legislative Council regions elects five members, meaning that the quota for election is one sixth of the total vote in the region (the regions each have an enrolment of around 500,000 voters).

The ALP won 18 of the 40 Legislative Council seats, with the Liberals and Nationals winning 19. Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party (DHJP) was the most successful non-major party, with three seats, followed by the Liberal Democrats (LDP) with two, and the Animal Justice Party (AJP), Greens, Reason, Shooters, Fishers and Farmers (SFF), Sustainable Australia and Transport Matters parties each winning one seat.

The overall state-wide first preferences votes cast for each party for the Legislative Council, and the Council seats won by party, are set out in Table 4 below.

Table 4: State-wide first preference vote and Legislative Council seats by party

Party

Votes

Percent

Elected

Labor

1 405 475

39.2

18

Liberals

614 968

17.2

10

Liberals/Nationals

439 811

12.3

1

Greens

331 479

9.3

1

DHJP

134 266

3.7

3

SFF

108 280

3.0

1

LDP

89 428

2.5

2

AJP

88 520

2.5

1

DLP

75 221

2.1

Reason

49 013

1.4

1

VEP

42 611

1.2

Aussie Battler

33 172

0.9

Victorian Socialists

32 603

0.9

Sustainable Australia

29 831

0.8

1

Health Australia

28 132

0.8

ACP

24 295

0.7

Transport Matters

22 051

0.6

1

ALA

20 065

0.6

Hudson 4 NV

6 363

0.2

Vote 1 Local Jobs

5 338

0.1

Group D

1 429

0.0

FOZARD, Michael Stewart

499

0.0

GRIMA, Diana

199

0.0

MAJDLIK, Kathy

165

0.0

PONGRACIC, Karl Jozef

126

0.0

HINE, Stewart

62

0.0

SINGH, Bobby

49

0.0

MACK, Peter

27

0.0

Victoria is one of only two Australian jurisdictions that still use group voting tickets in elections (the other being Western Australia). Extensive preference trading between small parties led to small parties winning the final seat in each region on very small primary votes.

The details of the Legislative Council results by region are in Appendix 1.

Andrews ministry

Table 5 below sets out the new Andrews ministry as appointed by the Governor of Victoria on 29 November 2018.

Table 5: Ministry appointed on 29 November 2018

Daniel Andrews

Premier

James Merlino

Deputy Premier

Minister for Education

Gavin Jennings

Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council

Special Minister of State

Minister for Priority Precincts

Minister for Aboriginal Affairs

Jaclyn Symes

Deputy Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council

Minister for Regional Development

Minister for Agriculture

Minister for Resources

Tim Pallas

Treasurer

Minister for Economic Development

Minister for Industrial Relations

Jacinta Allan

Leader of the House

Minister for Transport Infrastructure

Ben Carroll

Minister for Crime Prevention

Minister for Corrections

Minister for Youth Justice

Minister for Victim Support

Lily D’Ambrosio

Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change

Minister for Solar Homes

Luke Donnellan

Minister for Child Protection

Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers

Martin Foley

Minister for Mental Health

Minister for Equality

Minister for Creative Industries

Jill Hennessy

Attorney-General

Minister for Workplace Safety

Melissa Horne

Minister for Public Transport

Minister for Ports and Freight

Marlene Kairouz

Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation

Minister for Suburban Development

Jenny Mikakos

Minister for Health

Minister for Ambulance Services

Lisa Neville

Minister for Water

Minister for Police and Emergency Services

Martin Pakula

Minister for Jobs, Innovation and Trade

Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events

Minister for Racing

Jaala Pulford

Minister for Roads

Minister for Road Safety and the TAC

Minister for Fishing and Boating

Robin Scott

Assistant Treasurer

Minister for Veterans

Adem Somyurek

Minister for Local Government

Minister for Small Business

Gayle Tierney

Minister for Training and Skills

Minister for Higher Education

Gabrielle Williams

Minister for Prevention of Family Violence

Minister for Women

Minister for Youth

Richard Wynne

Minister for Planning

Minister for Housing

Minister for Multicultural Affairs

Source: premier.vic.gov.au website

Appendix 1: Legislative Council results by region

All data in this Appendix is from Parliamentary Library analysis of VEC election results data.

Eastern Metropolitan Region

Party

Above the line votes (ATL)

Below the line votes (BTL)

Total

Percent

Quotas

Elected

Labor

141 498

13 218

154 716

37.0

2.2

2

Liberals

144 382

6 834

151 216

36.1

2.2

2

Greens

28 716

8 934

37 650

9.0

0.5

LDP

16 370

1 082

17 452

4.2

0.3

DHJP

9 235

1 348

10 583

2.5

0.2

AJP

8 547

1 484

10 031

2.4

0.1

DLP

6 230

867

7 097

1.7

0.1

SFF

4 458

787

5 245

1.3

0.1

Reason

2 539

2 457

4 996

1.2

0.1

VEP

3 029

693

3 722

0.9

0.1

Sustainable Australia

2 452

948

3 400

0.8

0.0

Transport Matters

2 189

401

2 590

0.6

0.0

1

Health Australia

2 008

418

2 426

0.6

0.0

ALA

1 533

397

1 930

0.5

0.0

Victorian Socialists

1 038

849

1 887

0.5

0.0

Aussie Battler

2 002

229

2 231

0.5

0.0

ACP

977

207

1 184

0.3

0.0

Hudson 4 NV

145

31

176

0.0

0.0

Eastern Victoria Region

Party

ATL

BTL

Total

Percent

Quotas

Elected

Liberals/Nationals

154 100

5 420

159 520

34.1

2.0

2

Labor

146 504

10 516

157 020

33.6

2.0

2

Greens

25 736

5 731

31 467

6.7

0.4

SFF

21 170

2 239

23 409

5.0

0.3

1

DHJP

19 450

1 475

20 925

4.5

0.3

LDP

17 633

1 223

18 856

4.0

0.2

AJP

13 088

2 007

15 095

3.2

0.2

DLP

6 495

572

7 067

1.5

0.1

VEP

5 334

888

6 222

1.3

0.1

Aussie Battler

5 282

403

5 685

1.2

0.1

Health Australia

3 521

634

4 155

0.9

0.1

Sustainable Australia

3 294

798

4 092

0.9

0.1

Reason

2 274

1 532

3 806

0.8

0.0

ACP

2 957

225

3 182

0.7

0.0

Transport Matters

2 259

363

2 622

0.6

0.0

ALA

2 293

359

2 652

0.6

0.0

Victorian Socialists

603

414

1 017

0.2

0.0

Hudson 4 NV

281

39

320

0.1

0.0

FOZARD, Michael Stewart

499

499

0.1

0.0

Northern Metropolitan Region

Party

ATL

BTL

Total

Percent

Quotas

Elected

Labor

176 336

15 401

191 737

42.6

2.6

2

Greens

56 883

18 464

75 347

16.7

1.0

1

Liberals

70 724

3 440

74 164

16.5

1.0

1

Victorian Socialists

12 456

6 471

18 927

4.2

0.3

DLP

18 063

715

18 778

4.2

0.3

Reason

7 492

7 664

15 156

3.4

0.2

1

DHJP

8 466

627

9 093

2.0

0.1

AJP

7 952

1 179

9 131

2.0

0.1

LDP

5 684

497

6 181

1.4

0.1

Vote 1 Local Jobs

4 679

659

5 338

1.2

0.1

SFF

4 889

488

5 377

1.2

0.1

Aussie Battler

3 790

679

4 469

1.0

0.1

VEP

3 177

478

3 655

0.8

0.0

Health Australia

3 313

388

3 701

0.8

0.0

Sustainable Australia

2 332

770

3 102

0.7

0.0

Transport Matters

2 253

330

2 583

0.6

0.0

ACP

1 339

252

1 591

0.4

0.0

ALA

1 466

223

1 689

0.4

0.0

Hudson 4 NV

180

40

220

0.0

0.0

Northern Victoria Region

Party

ATL

BTL

Total

Percent

Quotas

Elected

Labor

135 897

9 436

145 333

31.8

1.9

2

Liberals/Nationals

137 109

5 427

142 536

31.2

1.9

1

SFF

32 969

2 894

35 863

7.9

0.5

Greens

23 638

6 375

30 013

6.6

0.4

DHJP

20 493

1 667

22 160

4.9

0.3

1

LDP

16 682

592

17 274

3.8

0.2

1

AJP

9 392

1 088

10 480

2.3

0.1

VEP

7 725

1 444

9 169

2.0

0.1

ACP

7 536

423

7 959

1.7

0.1

DLP

6 117

526

6 643

1.5

0.1

Aussie Battler

6 129

330

6 459

1.4

0.1

Health Australia

3 821

604

4 425

1.0

0.1

Sustainable Australia

3 323

806

4 129

0.9

0.1

Hudson 4 NV

3 703

419

4 122

0.9

0.1

ALA

3 206

522

3 728

0.8

0.0

Reason

1 761

1 413

3 174

0.7

0.0

Transport Matters

1 722

192

1 914

0.4

0.0

Victorian Socialists

851

474

1 325

0.3

0.0

South-Eastern Metropolitan Region

Party

ATL

BTL

Total

Percent

Quotas

Elected

Labor

209 095

9 037

218 132

49.9

3.0

3

Liberals

122 895

3 690

126 585

29.0

1.7

1

Greens

20 670

3 681

24 351

5.6

0.3

DHJP

12 347

911

13 258

3.0

0.2

AJP

8 757

961

9 718

2.2

0.1

DLP

5 959

425

6 384

1.5

0.1

SFF

5 699

634

6 333

1.4

0.1

Transport Matters

4 660

871

5 531

1.3

0.1

Health Australia

3 383

340

3 723

0.9

0.1

LDP

3 365

313

3 678

0.8

0.1

1

Reason

2 323

1 382

3 705

0.8

0.1

VEP

2 679

334

3 013

0.7

0.0

Sustainable Australia

2 596

430

3 026

0.7

0.0

Aussie Battler

2 623

195

2 818

0.6

0.0

ALA

2 038

281

2 319

0.5

0.0

Group D

1 085

344

1 429

0.3

0.0

ACP

1 101

101

1 202

0.3

0.0

Victorian Socialists

897

334

1 231

0.3

0.0

Hudson 4 NV

355

48

403

0.1

0.0

HINE, Stewart

62

62

0.0

0.0

MACK, Peter

27

27

0.0

0.0

SINGH, Bobby

49

49

0.0

0.0

Southern Metropolitan Region

Party

ATL

BTL

Total

Percent

Quotas

Elected

Liberals

156 447

8 113

164 560

38.3

2.3

2

Labor

131 694

16 847

148 541

34.6

2.1

2

Greens

44 729

13 102

57 831

13.5

0.8

AJP

7 753

1 568

9 321

2.2

0.1

Reason

4 270

4 365

8 635

2.0

0.1

DHJP

5 222

960

6 182

1.4

0.1

LDP

5 477

471

5 948

1.4

0.1

DLP

5 147

529

5 676

1.3

0.1

Sustainable Australia

4 273

1 385

5 658

1.3

0.1

1

VEP

3 452

899

4 351

1.0

0.1

SFF

2 301

425

2 726

0.6

0.0

Victorian Socialists

1 113

938

2 051

0.5

0.0

ALA

1 468

607

2 075

0.5

0.0

Health Australia

1 707

308

2 015

0.5

0.0

Aussie Battler

1 517

174

1 691

0.4

0.0

Transport Matters

1 100

253

1 353

0.3

0.0

ACP

585

123

708

0.2

0.0

Hudson 4 NV

299

36

335

0.1

0.0

Western Metropolitan Region

Party

ATL

BTL

Total

Percent

Quotas

Elected

Labor

204 247

9 961

214 208

46.2

2.8

3

Liberals

94 607

3 836

98 443

21.3

1.3

1

Greens

31 648

8 695

40 343

8.7

0.5

DHJP

29 084

2 498

31 582

6.8

0.4

1

DLP

14 849

1 477

16 326

3.5

0.2

AJP

10 402

1 605

12 007

2.6

0.2

SFF

8 073

831

8 904

1.9

0.1

LDP

7 440

484

7 924

1.7

0.1

Reason

3 163

2 161

5 324

1.1

0.1

Aussie Battler

4 025

372

4 397

0.9

0.1

Health Australia

4 017

333

4 350

0.9

0.1

Sustainable Australia

2 880

627

3 507

0.8

0.0

VEP

3 273

484

3 757

0.8

0.0

ALA

2 853

434

3 287

0.7

0.0

Transport Matters

2 748

306

3 054

0.7

0.0

Victorian Socialists

1 690

1 069

2 759

0.6

0.0

ACP

1 924

231

2 155

0.5

0.0

Hudson 4 NV

373

194

567

0.1

0.0

GRIMA, Diana

199

199

0.0

0.0

MAJDLIK, Kathy

165

165

0.0

0.0

Western Victoria Region

Party

ATL

BTL

Total

Percent

Quotas

Elected

Labor

165 961

9 827

175 788

38.2

2.3

2

Liberals/Nationals

132 263

5 492

137 755

29.9

1.8

1

Greens

28 489

5 988

34 477

7.5

0.4

SFF

18 426

1 997

20 423

4.4

0.3

DHJP

19 091

1 392

20 483

4.4

0.3

1

AJP

11 441

1 296

12 737

2.8

0.2

1

LDP

11 617

498

12 115

2.6

0.2

VEP

7 415

1 307

8 722

1.9

0.1

DLP

6 677

573

7 250

1.6

0.1

ACP

5 868

446

6 314

1.4

0.1

Aussie Battler

5 158

264

5 422

1.2

0.1

Reason

2 498

1 719

4 217

0.9

0.1

Victorian Socialists

2 439

967

3 406

0.7

0.0

Health Australia

3 022

315

3 337

0.7

0.0

Sustainable Australia

2 356

561

2 917

0.6

0.0

Transport Matters

2 151

253

2 404

0.5

0.0

ALA

2 106

279

2 385

0.5

0.0

Hudson 4 NV

189

31

220

0.0

0.0

PONGRACIC, Karl Jozef

126

126

0.0

0.0

Appendix 2: Party names and abbreviations

Full Party Name

Party Abbreviation

ANIMAL JUSTICE PARTY

Animal Justice Party

ANIMAL JUSTICE PARTY

AJP

AUSSIE BATTLER PARTY

Aussie Battler

AUSTRALIAN COUNTRY PARTY

ACP

AUSTRALIAN COUNTRY PARTY/GIVE IT BACK

ACP

AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Greens

AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Labor

AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY - VICTORIAN BRANCH

Labor

AUSTRALIAN LIBERTY ALLIANCE

ALA

DEMOCRATIC LABOUR PARTY (DLP)

DLP

DERRYN HINCH'S JUSTICE PARTY

DHJP

FIONA PATTEN'S REASON PARTY

Reason

HEALTH AUSTRALIA PARTY

Health Australia

HUDSON 4 NV

Hudson 4 NV

LABOUR DLP

DLP

LIBERAL

Liberals

LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY

LDP

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

LDP

LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA - VICTORIAN DIVISION

Liberals

LIBERAL/THE NATIONALS

Liberals/Nationals

NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA - VICTORIA

Nationals

SHOOTERS, FISHERS & FARMERS VIC

SFF

SHOOTERS, FISHERS AND FARMERS PARTY VICTORIA

SFF

SUSTAINABLE AUSTRALIA

Sustainable Australia

SUSTAINABLE AUSTRALIA (VIC)

Sustainable Australia

THE AUSTRALIAN GREENS - VICTORIA

Greens

TRANSPORT MATTERS

Transport Matters

TRANSPORT MATTERS PARTY

Transport Matters

VICTORIAN SOCIALISTS

Victorian Socialists

VOLUNTARY EUTHANASIA PARTY (VICTORIA)

VEP

VOTE 1 LOCAL JOBS

Vote 1 Local Jobs

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[1].               All reported results are from the Parliamentary Library’s analysis of the published results from the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC), and include the finalised recount results from Ripon District.