Victorian Election 2022 - Wrap up

From Tuesday 22 November to election day on 26 November, our EDO team volunteered on pre-poll and election booths, supporting Liberal candidates across Victoria.

On our first day, we were in Kew supporting former Victorian Young Liberal President Jess Wilson. Prepoll in Kew had a unique atmosphere; volunteers for all of the candidates were invariably friendly throughout the day, and there was a great general sense of positivity and optimism.

On Wednesday, we headed to the Camberwell prepoll booth in Hawthorn to support John Pesutto. This booth would be where we spent most of our time throughout the week. Pesutto’s energy and passion for the local area was inspiring, and energised the volunteer team to keep pushing through many long, but nonetheless rewarding, days on prepoll. In the late afternoon, the EDO team were thrilled to briefly meet former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who had come out to support Pesutto on pre-poll. 

On Thursday, after an early start, we headed out to Mordiallec to support Phillip Pease. We had the pleasure of being on a pre-poll centre with Phillip, and were able to talk with him about the future of the party and the Liberal movement generally within Victoria and in Queensland. After lunch, we went across to Oakleigh to support Jim Grivokostopoulos and finished the day on pre-poll there.

On Friday, we returned to pre-poll at the Camberwell booth, and on election day, joined fellow Young Liberals handing out how-to-vote cards at the Hawthorn Arts Centre. It was a pleasure to volunteer on these booths; seeing members of the community come up with genuine respect for Pesutto (not just as a politician, but as a fellow member of the community) really reinforced to me that so much of what makes for a strong political candidate is genuine connections with the local community and a critical understanding of the issues that matter to voters – such as climate and energy policy, cost of living and infrastructure delivery.

Over the course of the week, both on and off of election booths, we were able to meet some of the Victorian Young Liberals, and get a better understanding of how the Young Liberal movement works in other states.

One key difference between the elections I have previously experienced and the election in Victoria was the presence of the teal independents. In Queensland, we are yet to experience a teal independent wave in the same way that NSW and Victoria did in the federal election.

I found it quite eye-opening to talk with the teal independents’ volunteers and get a better and more nuanced understanding of why they backed the teal movement. It was also quite interesting to see that the Teal wave experienced in the federal election earlier in the year was not replicated in the Victorian state election, despite projections that indicated it may be.

I was thrilled to see Jess Wilson win the seat of Kew. The popular saying that you can’t be what you can’t see rings true; and the election of a young woman such as Jess is incredibly inspiring.

Likewise, the now confirmed victory of John Pesutto in Hawthorn is exciting. Having spent days on pre-poll with Pesutto and his wife Betty, I have seen first-hand how dedicated and hardworking he is, and how committed he is to supporting the local community.  

In my view, the future of the party is in safe hands with the likes of Jess Wilson and John Pesutto as elected representatives. The unfortunate overall election result for the Liberals in Victoria provides the party more generally with the opportunity to evaluate its current position, and run strong grassroots campaigns with strong, well-developed and ambitious policy platforms in upcoming elections, including the upcoming New South Wales and Queensland state elections.

Jeanette Hodgson is a member of the Young Liberal Nationals (Queensland), and a member of the 2022 Victorian Election EDO programme.