The return of ALP leader Steve Bracks for a third term at the November 25 Victorian election was less a vote for the state ALP government than a vote against the federal Coalition government.
It was also a rejection of the legacy of former Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett, whose 1992-1999 government was responsible for wholesale privatisation and the slashing of public services. While Labor campaign ads reminded Victorians of the Kennett legacy, Bracks has not bought back into public ownership any of the privatised assets, including public transport. Labor won 55 of the 88 lower house seats.
The Greens maintained their statewide vote, and increased it significantly in the inner city. The Greens failed to win any lower house seats, but it did win two seats in the upper house. In the electorates of Brunswick, Richmond and Melbourne, the Greens are now the second major party.
Socialist candidates ran in four lower house and two upper house seats. The most succesful was Steve Jolly of the Socialist Party, who used his position on Yarra Council to expose the pro-business policies of the other parties, including the Greens. He obtained more then 6% of the vote in the electorate of Richmond. Independent socialist Jorge Jorquera received 1% in the outer Western electorate of Derrimut.
The Socialist Alliance (SA) ran two lower house candidates in Melbourne, and two candidates for the upper house for the Western Victoria region, which includes Geelong and Ballarat (the upper house has a new system of proportional representation). The campaign focussed on opposition to Howard's IR laws, support for civil liberties and opposition to racism and Islamaphobia, bringing public transport back into hands, the right to choose abortion, the decriminalisation of drugs and the recognition of same-sex marriage.
"Having 'Free the Melbourne 13' on our how-to-votes was probably not a big vote winner", SA candidate for Footscray, Margarita Windisch told Green Left Weekly, "however it did show our stand with communities under attack".
SA candidates received a range of endorsements, including from trade unionists, civil liberties activists, artists, East Timorese and Palestinian community leaders, the spiritual leader of the Horn of Africa Muslim community, Sheik Isse Musse, and comedian Rod Quantock.
Vannessa Hearman received 2% in Brunswick, out polling Peoples Power, a right-wing outfit set up by former Kennett speech writer Steven Mayne, and the religious fundamentalist Family First party. Margarita Windisch received 1.5% in Footscray. Two SA candidates in Western Victoria received 1039 votes with 80% of the vote counted.