GIPPSLAND may seem a little greener after this election, according to the lead Victorian Greens candidate for the state upper house, Mat Morgan.
Mr Morgan, who was on the ballot for the Eastern Victoria region, said the party achieved strong results throughout Gippsland.
“The Greens have achieved around a two per cent swing in the Eastern Vic region whilst both major parties have had swings away from them,” he said.
“All across Gippsland we saw The Greens vote hold strong in many seats where the Labor and Liberal votes fell.
“This shows The Greens are a real force in our political landscape.”
Mr Morgan said the group voting system, which allows political parties to direct preferences on “above the line” votes for the upper house, was a “blight on our democracy”.
In a video posted to TikTok, he said the group voting system was a way for other parties to keep the Greens out of the upper house in favour of others with a much lower vote. Mr Morgan was not elected to the upper house, despite the Greens receiving almost eight per cent of the vote at the time of writing for the Eastern Victoria region, which was the third highest, after the Liberal/Nationals and Labor.
“This election we saw sham parties set up with the sole purpose of directing preferences,” Mr Morgan said.
“And we saw highly unethical preferencing which saw supposedly ‘left wing’ parties handing their preferences to conservative parties.”
“We are looking at having Jeff Bourman of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party re-elected for a third term despite him only receiving three per cent of the vote, it’s simply disgraceful.”
The Coalition and some minor parties also called for abolishing group tickets.
Asked to reflect on Labor’s re-election, Mr Morgan said he was pleased that the Coalition did not succeed.
In the Lower House, the Greens gained one seat, comprising to a total of four.
All four seats are in Melbourne.
