“That alone is a message … Our time in the sun will come again.”
Shadow minister David Davis said it was possible to rebuild for the next election,but admitted the party has deep flaws.
“We’ve got a huge amount of work to do,” Davis said.
“There’s obviously sadness[among my colleagues] … this is very tough for those candidates who put their genuine heart and soul into this.”
The Coalition struggled to gain ground in the eastern and southern suburbs of Melbourne where it needed to gain seats to challenge Labor for the government benches. In some seats,Labor extended its margin,despite suffering a 7 per cent statewide swing against it.
At 10pm,the opposition was behind in key seats,including Bayswater,Box Hill,Bass,Glen Waverley,Ashwood and Ringwood – all seats it had hoped to win. It is likely to lose the seats of Mornington,to independent Kate Lardner and Hastings to Labor.
Shadow treasurer David Davis maintained hope that the Coalition was winning a higher proportion of postal ballots and votes cast before election day. These votes are counted later on election night.
“I actually think the pre-poll was very,very strong for us,you could feel it,” he said.
Frontbencher Georgie Crozier defended the party’s campaign but acknowledged “there’s clearly some issues we’re facing”.
Swings against Labor were larger in the outer suburbs,but the Coalition failed to win seats in these areas because of the large margins accrued at the 2018 “Danslide” election.
Swings away from Labor in working-class areas included a 20 per cent shift in Broadmeadows,11 per cent in Greenvale,seven per cent in Laverton,14 per cent in Mill Park,17 per cent in St Albans,9 per cent in Sunbury,15 per cent in Thomastown and 12 per cent in Yan Yean.
The Nationals were likely to defeat independents in Mildura,Shepparton and Morwell,while the Liberal Party won Nepean off Labor.
Liberal deputy leader David Southwick said the result in his ultra-marginal seat of Caulfield was too close to call and would probably drag into next week because thousands of postal ballots had not yet been received.
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Opposition frontbencher Matt Bach said there were some positive signs for the Coalition’s hopes of retaining Kew and Brighton,where well-funded independents were running.
“We’re getting good indications we may well hold those seats. As long as we do,we’re in the game,” he said. “I am hopeful.”
Redbridge political consultant and former Liberal staffer Tony Barry said the result provided further proof the Liberal Party needed to embark on structural reform to re-engage with certain demographic groups that it had lost touch with,including Millennials and professional women.