In most federal election competitions, it is hard to see Labour as a metaphor David. But in Melbourne’s progressive seat, now challenged Green leader Adam Bandt has ruled for 15 years, which is similar to the often folded biblical story.
On March 28, Melbourne emerged on the list of no one as watching battles when Anthony Albanese called the election date in May.
The campaign began just five months ago, Labour’s candidate for band Sarah Witty did not successfully run for Yara City Council. She is second only to independent and green candidates.
By February, less than two months from voting day, Witty was the choice of Labor's long-serving Greens MPs in Melbourne.
From the beginning, the seats were not on the Federal Labor radar. "I don't think we even have it in a winable column," said Victorian labor source.
Green Party insiders said there was no sign of trouble in Melbourne and pointed out that the party did not have the resources to conduct a single-seat investigation in the way of a big party.
Both the Greens and the labor force reflect the unexpected results of figuring out what happened in the next few weeks.
It would be a striking observation for the Greens how Bandt was seen as a unified leader in the party, losing his seat for so long.
Local labor volunteers from Melbourne and Richmond branches are busy every day. Even Witty’s social media is run by volunteers who update the page in their free time.
The national campaign offers how to vote cards, but members of the ordinary document have had to raise funds through sweepstakes and auctions to pay for campaign shirts and Corflutes.
A senior Victorian labor source spoke on anonymously, calling Witty’s movement “on the smell of greasy rags” and donating from active Melbourne and Richmond branches.
Another labor source helped the campaign, saying: "It's a very, very sparse campaign, all raised from locals. That's not to say a lot of money from the state office."
David’s idea as David is not very friendly to the Greens camp in his battle with the Greens Giants. They believe that Labor's federal loudspeakers offer great opportunities for even the lowest resource movement.
While the labor source sees the “man-driven” movement as a reason for the witty ousted Bante, the “perfect storm” has also taken a hit.
Election analyst Kevin Bonham said Green Party leaders’ chances of winning their sixth term in office were suppressed by three key factors.
The electoral boundaries of seats changed before the election, reducing Bandt's main vote from 49.6% to 44.7% in 2022. Based on the two candidate priority, it has dropped from 60.2% to 56.5%.
After a few days of post-election vote count, Bant admitted Witty on Thursday, calling Melbourne's Greens victory like "climbing Mount Everest".
"We need to overcome the sum of liberals, labor and a country, which is the sum of Mount Everest we have climbed a few times now, but this time we've fallen short."
Bonham said this time the preference stream does not like green.
More liberals and a country voted more than before.
Advance, a right-wing radical group, conducted a campaign against the Greens to reduce votes in both houses and claimed that Bandt's failure was a victory.
Social media advertising analysis shows that the group did not spend money on targeted advertising on seats during the campaign.
A Bandt Camp source said the post-election review will consider a third-party campaign targeting the party to understand its impact on the city center seat.
Another factor against Banter cannot be easily written off: the Greens leader's main vote is enough to make his loss move even after the border redistribution.
"It's a perfect storm," he said. "He has a low benchmark, he has swings against him in his first vote and has a swing against him in terms of preference.
“These three things combine him.”
The swing against Bandt at progressive booths including Fitzroy and Collingwood will require further analysis to determine how the greens evacuate in the House of Commons.
The Victorian labor source of the left hopes that the Greens “look critically at” their failures.
"I do see the value of having a strong left-wing beam in parliament," they said. "I think it's good for democracy, and when we have a viable little left-wing party, I think it's good for Labor.
“So I really hope they need some time to study their own failures critically.”