Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt conceded the loss of his own parliamentary seat Thursday, blaming a flood of votes that swept to the triumphant Labor Party.
People who “hate” right-leaning opposition leader Peter Dutton had flocked to Labor to keep him out of power, Bandt told reporters after losing the seat of Melbourne, which he held for 15 years.
“Like me, many of them wanted him as far away from power as possible,” Bandt said.
“My initial take is that some votes leapt away from us to Labor, as people saw Labor as the best option to stop Dutton,” he said.
“Whilst not a massive shift in the vote, it did make a difference.”
Bandt, 53, said he had called his Labor Party rival for the seat, Sarah Witty, to congratulate her and “wish her all the best”.
Left-leaning Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party won re-election in a landslide Saturday, with partial results putting it on course for at least 92 seats in the 150-member House of Representatives.
The Greens have secured no seats so far, though one is still considered too close to call.
They had four seats in the previous parliament.
But Bandt said the Greens may get 13 percent of the vote in the upper house Senate, giving them the balance of power there.
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