Adam Bandt has lost his seat of Melbourne. What happened to the Greens in Victoria?By Kate Ashton and Madi ChwastaTopic:Australian Federal Elections1h ago1 hours agoThu 8 May 2025 at 5:23amMelbourne voters have walked away from Greens MP Adam Bandt at the 2025 election. (ABC News: Kate Ashton)abc.net.au/news/federal-election-result-adam-bandt-greens-melbourne-vote-2025/105266174Link copiedShareShare articleIn the progressive stronghold city of Melbourne, the Greens were hopeful that by now, they might finally be celebrating winning a second Victorian seat in the federal lower house.Instead, 15-year local member and party leader Adam Bandt is out of a job after Labor's Sarah Whitty claimed the formerly "safe" Greens inner-city seat of Melbourne.Federal politics live updates: Get the latest on the post-election election landscapeLive results: Find out what's happening in your seat as counting continuesIn the northern-suburbs electorate of Wills, the Greens were competitive, but the seat was also retained by Labor despite a distribution favourable to the Greens and speculation about the party winning migrant votes over its support for Palestine.The Greens are expected to maintain their presence in the senate, but in the lower house they have been decimated, losing two of the three Brisbane seats they gained from the major parties in 2022.On Thursday afternoon, Mr Bandt formally conceded he had lost the seat.He said he believed a number of Greens votes in Melbourne had "leaked" to Labor because the electorate was determined to keep Peter Dutton out of government."People saw Labor as the best option to stop Dutton ... it did make a difference." he said.He said redistribution of the Melbourne electorate worked against him but he still led on first preference votes, with Labor's candidate Sarah Witty elected on preferences. The latest Melbourne count shows a 4.6 per cent swing away from the Greens on first preferences too.It's true Mr Bandt experienced an unfavourable re-distribution — losing high Green-vote areas of East Brunswick and Fitzroy North — in favour of shakier territory south of the Yarra River.That lost Greens territory was expected to be the gain of his colleague over the boundary in Wills, which swept in those areas as part of its own redistribution.But those changes in Wills, which also takes in Coburg and Fawkner, were not enough to get Greens candidate Samantha Ratman over the line, despite a swing in her favour.Greens losing seats despite increase in young, progressive votersOn election night the Greens put out a press release celebrating the party's "highest-ever vote in history," and their continued expectation that Mr Bandt would retain his seat.The vote for the Greens has not been finalised, but by Thursday morning — with about 80 per cent of the vote counted in the lower house — the party was trailing nationally on its 2022 election result.The ABC is projecting that Greens leader and former Melbourne MP Adam Bandt will lose his seat after 15 years. (ABC News: Kate Ashton)While ballots are still being counted, election analyst John Black said no matter how you looked at it, it was hard to characterise the result as a victory for the Greens."To dress this up as a win is a flight of fantasy," said Mr Black, a former Labor senator who runs an election modelling company.The Greens currently have a swing against them in the senate and the lower house of about half a per cent, with a slightly larger swing against them in Victoria, often viewed as the country's most-progressive state, at 0.7 per cent.In comparison, Labor has seen a 2 per cent positive swing in the lower house.That's despite this year's election being the first where gen Z and millennial voters outnumbered baby boomers, with the increase in younger progressive voters expected to work in the Greens favour.Despite the general upwards trend in the Green vote in recent decades, their leader is toppled and the party's representation in the lower house has been slashed."They're in the same position as the Liberals at the moment, aren't they?" Mr Black said.Greens losing votes from their base, analyst saysBefore voters went to the polls, Mr Black, who writes for the Australian Financial Review, warned the Greens were campaigning on a strategy that was failing to win votes and losing support from their own base in the seats that mattered.Greens leader Adam Bandt has been defeated in the seat of Melbourne. (ABC News: Nick Haggarty)The environmental party campaigned hard on broader social issues, like renters rights, healthcare and universal childcare — and pro-Palestinian advocacy following Israel's invasion of Gaza."I think that they were way too negative and didn't focus on their strengths, which was to concentrate on the environment," Mr Black said.Former Labor strategist turned Redbridge pollster Kos Samaras said there was a surge of support for the Greens amongst 20-something year olds, but the increased "activism" in the party's politics also cost them votes in the seats that mattered most.Some Melbourne voters found Greens campaign divisive, too idealisticSince election night, hundreds of Victorian voters have written into the ABC about what decided their vote as part of the ABC's Your Say project, with more than 50 voters telling the ABC why they did — or didn't — vote for the Greens.It included a number of former or swinging Greens voters who said they did not vote for the Greens this time because they did not like the outsized focus on the Israel-Gaza war, which was seen as divisive.There was a frustration with the Greens' tendency to prioritise the "idealistic" over the practical, while a number said they were concerned about Mr Bandt's leadership.Angela, who lives the electorate of Melbourne, heard an anti-Greens sentiment from some of her neighbours. (ABC News: Kate Ashton)Angela, a childcare worker in the Melbourne electorate said while the Greens campaign was highly visible, she knew many of her neighbours did not support Mr Bandt."A lot of them were not in favour of the Greens policies … [because] are they actually feasible? What's the price to pay for all of that? That was a lot of the sentiment that I've been hearing from my community," she said.19-year-old Carlton resident Scarlett said she was "very disappointed and very surprised" with the Greens loss.Carlton voter Scarlett was surprised Greens leader Adam Bandt was expected to lose his seat. (ABC News: Kate Ashton)She voted for Mr Bandt, but noticed the environment was not at the front of the Greens campaign."The environment's a very important issue for me, but … you know, no one was really talking about it at all this year," she said.A Carlton resident and university professor said she was relieved at the result — she said she used to find Mr Bandt charming, but no longer liked the direction of the Greens, describing their campaign as "very undergraduate".Pro-Palestinian message splits Greens voters in WillsThere was speculation that the Greens' pro-Palestinian messaging could pay dividends in seats with higher migrant populations like Wills by attracting new voters, but it appears to have cut both ways in Victoria.Some voters told the ABC the party's staunch stance on Palestine and Gaza won their vote."There are tens of thousands of people this election who voted Greens for the first time, in areas where the party hasn't been able to reach … more diverse areas … suburbs with migrants and multicultural populations," said Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi.Election fallout and analysis:How Peter Dutton's campaign flew off a cliffWhat happened to the Greens vote in Victoria?ANALYSIS: The Coalition is split on nuclear after election lossWant even more? Here's where you can find all our 2025 federal election coverageCatch the latest interviews and in-depth coverage on ABC iview and ABC ListenWhile the Greens recorded a positive swing in Wills (after a favourable redistribution), some voters, including those who voted for the party before in areas with a typically strong Greens vote, told the ABC they felt alienated by the party's messaging on the Israel-Gaza war.A 40-year-old lifelong Greens voter from Carlton North (formerly Melbourne, now Wills) said she found the pro-Palestinian messaging divisive and negative."Both my parents were migrants, so I really dislike watching the rise of hate and bigotry on all sides," she said.She said she was a Chinese-Australian and voted Labor in the end.At the local high school in Fitzroy North the Greens recorded 54 per cent of the two-party preferred vote in 2025, compared to 62 per cent 2022. (ABC News: Kate Ashton)At Edinburgh gardens in Fitzroy North, the ABC spoke to multiple people who had formerly voted Greens — including a young mother and an environmental consultant — who did not vote for them at this election, referencing the "outsized" and "divisive" pro-Palestinian messaging.Another Wills voter —a lawyer who voted Labor — told the ABC the Greens' campaign focus on international issues did not resonate with the local community, who realised that real change would come from the political centre.These "better-educated professionals" were the natural base of the Greens who were leaving the party, analyst Mr Black said.The Greens had hoped its pro-Palestinan stance could help it pick up votes in Wills. (ABC News: Darryl Torpy)While they may have won some new votes in migrant communities, they were mostly in seats the Greens would not win, he said."The strategy that they were running was demonstrably not working," he said."As the ALP has demonstrated, clearly, it's the middle ground that is now occupied by the majority of Australian voters."Posted 1h ago1 hours agoThu 8 May 2025 at 5:23am, updated 43m ago43 minutes agoThu 8 May 2025 at 5:49amShare optionsCopy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)Top StoriesGreens leader Adam Bandt concedes seat, ending 15 years in parliamentTopic:ElectionsPhoto shows Adam Bandt press gallery doorstopMore women in Labor than ever but top jobs still going to menBAnalysis by Brett WorthingtonPhoto shows Anika Wells Amanda Rishworth Katie Gallagher Anne AlyAttorney-General Mark Dreyfus dumped from frontbench in factional carve-upLIVEPhoto shows Mark Dreyfus standing at the dispatch box in the federal parliament.Two men found guilty of murdering Indigenous schoolboy Cassius TurveyTopic:HomicidePhoto shows Cassius Turvey Forever 15Erin Patterson visibly upset as daughter gives evidence at murder trialLIVEPhoto shows A digital drawing of Erin Patterson wearing a pink shirtRelated storiesGreens leaderless as Adam Bandt projected to lose in MelbourneTopic:Australian GreensPhoto shows Bandt sits with his hand on his chin.Why Melbourne’s inner north has Labor worriedTopic:Federal GovernmentRelated topicsAustralian Federal ElectionsMelbourneTop StoriesGreens leader Adam Bandt concedes seat, ending 15 years in parliamentTopic:ElectionsPhoto shows Adam Bandt press gallery doorstopMore women in Labor than ever but top jobs still going to menBAnalysis by Brett WorthingtonAttorney-General Mark Dreyfus dumped from frontbench in factional carve-upTopic:Government and PoliticsTwo men found guilty of murdering Indigenous schoolboy Cassius TurveyTopic:HomicideErin Patterson visibly upset as daughter gives evidence at murder trialTopic:Law, Crime and JusticeJust InGovernment shouldn't tell parents how to discipline kids, Crisafulli saysTopic:Parenting8m ago8 minutes agoThu 8 May 2025 at 6:24amJail term doubled for 'muppets' involved in 100kg cocaine import attemptTopic:Cocaine19m ago19 minutes agoThu 8 May 2025 at 6:12amMore women in Labor than ever but top jobs still going to menBAnalysis by Brett Worthington21m ago21 minutes agoThu 8 May 2025 at 6:11amSoviet spacecraft will crash back to Earth within 48 hours, data suggestsTopic:Explainer21m ago21 minutes agoThu 8 May 2025 at 6:10amMore Just InBack to top