The 2018 Victorian state election: a quick guide

19 September 2019

PDF version [480KB]

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

Early voting rates in Legislative Assembly seats

Source: Parliamentary Library analysis of VEC data

Figure 2: Early voting rates in metropolitan Legislative Assembly seats

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

Winning party in Legislative Assembly seats

Source: Parliamentary Library analysis of VEC data

Figure 4: Winning party in metropolitan Legislative Assembly seats

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

[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.

 

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