The ABC is projecting Labor’s Sarah Witty will win the seat of Melbourne after Green's Leader Adam Bandt suffered a 4 per cent drop in his primary vote. It is a result the Greens are yet to concede but with the seats of Griffith and Brisbane gone and Ryan too close to call the party is now facing the prospect of losing its entire lower house foothold.
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00:00It looks like on these projections that he won't be returning to Parliament, instead
00:07defeated by Labor's Sarah Whitty.
00:10Now, Mr Ban, as we know, is leader of the party.
00:12He's held his seat since 2010, and it really has been considered a bit of a jewel in the
00:18crown for the Greens.
00:20So they'll be very upset about this loss.
00:24This is, though, the second major political scalp that Labor has managed to claim this
00:30election after, as we know, Peter Dutton, the opposition leader, lost his seat of Dixon
00:35over the weekend.
00:37Much like the coalition is going through a period of soul searching at the moment, it
00:42is likely that the Greens will have to do this as well, because they've actually been
00:47reduced to just one seat in the House of Representatives.
00:51And that very seat of Ryan, it is still hanging in the balance, and it's unclear whether they'll
00:57hold on to that as well.
00:58We did hear from Greens Senator Maureen Faruqi on afternoon briefing a little earlier today,
01:04and she's provided these reflections of these results.
01:07Over the last few days, seats have been called.
01:10They've been uncalled.
01:12You know, positions and decisions have flipped.
01:16In Melbourne, the situation is this.
01:1815,000 votes still have not been counted.
01:20These were people who were either working and not in the electorate that day, and those
01:25votes often have a very positive outcome for the Greens.
01:28Our scrutineers are there.
01:30Votes are being counted.
01:31And, you know, we can't declare a position until every last vote is counted.
01:35And I have everything crossed and hope that Adam gets across the line.
01:41And Olivia, what's Peter Dutton had to say today?
01:43Well, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, was actually in Canberra.
01:47It was a bit of a surprise.
01:48He was spotted at Canberra Airport, and some journalists did approach him and have a chat
01:54to him.
01:54Essentially, he came to Parliament House to pack up his things because, after all, his nearly
02:0025-year career in politics is over.
02:03As we know, there's a big question mark hanging over who will replace him to become a leader
02:09of the coalition at the moment.
02:12The key names in question are Deputy Opposition Leader Susan Lee, as well as the Shadow Treasurer
02:17Angus Taylor.
02:19There's a lot of sentiment within the party and disappointment, I've got to say, around
02:23the policy platforms that the party took to the election.
02:27It felt like there was a lack of cohesion and organisation with that.
02:33And ultimately, Mr Dutton was asked, considering his defeat, who he thinks would be best to replace
02:39him.
02:39And this was his response.
02:41I've spoken to my colleagues, and the Liberal Party rebuilds from here, and that's as it should
02:47be.
02:48So the best model I've seen is where leaders form up, make a graceful exit from politics
02:55and maintain the graceful silence.
02:58So that'll be my honour.
02:59So thank you very much.
03:01So a few reflections there from Peter Dutton, as he says there, he doesn't intend on weighing
03:07in on politics and was going to take a bit of a back step now.
03:12What happens for the coalition is that they have to wait until all the ballots are counted,
03:17all the seats are finalised, and then they'll hold that all-important leadership meeting to
03:22determine who will lead them through this period of regeneration following their resounding
03:28defeat over the weekend.