Federal election 2019: Josh Frydenberg's seat under siege from three corners

Updated

In the leafy seat of Kooyong, in Melbourne's inner east, posters of a smiling Josh Frydenberg, the Treasurer and current member, have adorned the fences of heritage houses for months.

Key points: Josh Frydenberg has held the seat of Kooyong since 2010

Mr Frydenberg says the last Victoria state election was a "wake-up call for Liberals"

Other Kooyong candidates include Jana Stewart for Labor, Julian Burnside for the Greens and independent Oliver Yates

"Voters are telling me they've never seen so much Liberal advertising in their lifetime," Labor candidate Jana Stewart said.

It is a measure of how seriously the Liberals are taking the battle for every seat in Victoria that the party is ploughing hundreds of thousands of dollars into a seat held on a very safe margin of 12.8 per cent.

"Certainly no seat can be taken for granted," Mr Frydenberg told 7.30.

"And take a seat like Kooyong, which has been on the centre-right of politics since Federation. We're not taking anything for granted."

Mr Frydenberg is facing down a well-funded three-cornered challenge from Labor, the Greens and a high-profile independent candidate for this seat, which encompasses some of Melbourne's wealthiest suburbs.

And it is emblematic of the challenges faced by the Liberal Party in Victoria as it fights to retain seats in the most progressive state in the country.

In November last year, Victorian Liberals suffered a 6 per cent swing against them and a wipe-out in the polls.

It was largely seen as a protest vote against Malcolm Turnbull's knifing, and for state Labor's infrastructure program.

Federal MPs were spooked by the sight of deputy state Liberal leader John Pesutto suffering a 9 per cent swing and losing his seat live on television.

Mr Pesutto's former seat of Hawthorn sits within the federal seat of Kooyong, along with the state seats of Box Hill and Burwood, which also suffered significant swings against the Liberals and changed hands to Labor.

"The state election was a wake-up call for Liberals right across the state, because it was obviously the result we didn't want," Mr Frydenberg said.

Challengers smell blood

Kooyong has been held since Federation by the conservative side of politics, including by Sir Robert Menzies himself.

But this election, challengers feel emboldened by the strong rebuttal of conservative politics in the state election.

Oliver Yates, the former head of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation — and a former Liberal — is running as an independent in Kooyong.

He is trying to make the election about what is seen as one of the Coalition's weak spots, climate change.

"I think probably the final loss of Malcolm Turnbull over the NEG [National Energy Guarantee] was a clear indication that it didn't matter what you did, the Liberal Party wasn't going to address climate change and it was getting further and further to the right," Mr Yates told 7.30.

Mr Yates's message is being reinforced by left-leaning activist group GetUp!, which is aiming to reach 80,000 voters in a phone blitz talking about climate change.

Mr Yates is also banking on disaffected Liberal voters feeling disenfranchised by the direction of the party over the last six years in government.

"If I think 60 per cent of this electorate is Liberal, I think probably less than 20 per cent is right-wing. The rest are probably moderate or left-leaning, which is where I stand," he said.

"My audience is clearly everybody who feels that the Liberal Party has left them behind."

It is a message that rings true to members of the Friday morning social tennis group at the MCC Tennis Club in Kew.

"They lost so many voters with Tony Abbott and his views ... It wasn't representative of the Liberal Government," said Sally Cameron over a post-tennis cappuccino.

"I'm a Liberal voter and always have been, but now it's all changing with everybody stabbing each other in the back."

Catherine O'Leary, who said she had always voted Liberal, was disgusted by the rolling of Mr Turnbull.

As someone who volunteers with asylum seekers she is excited by the entrance of high-profile human rights lawyer Julian Burnside as the Greens candidate for Kooyong.

She said she was now considering how she would vote.

"There's my dilemma, which way to go, because I believe he's an honest candidate," Ms O'Leary said.

Mr Burnside joined the Greens specifically to run in Kooyong on a climate change agenda.

"People who live in Kooyong, and I've lived here all my life, they work very hard in the hope that they can accumulate enough to leave something of value to their kids," Mr Burnside told 7.30. "Well, a world where human beings can survive is a good start."

Mr Burnside brings strong brand recognition as a high-profile lawyer, well-known media performer and human rights advocate.

The Greens are hoping his high profile will bring over voters who normally would not consider voting for the party.

Labor, meanwhile, is fielding a political novice in Kooyong, 31-year-old former family therapist and State Government policy worker, Jana Stewart.

As the only Aboriginal candidate, and only female major party contender, Ms Stewart stands out from the field.

She said she is also running on an environmental platform, as well as for better education.

But she acknowledges unseating the sitting member, who last election got 58.2 per cent of the primary vote, is an uphill battle.

"Absolutely Josh does have a very big percentage of the primary vote, and we need to get him under 50 per cent for any of us to have a chance," she said.

"So it's incredibly important that the voters of Kooyong preference in a way that's going to get one of us in."

Preferences may count

There does seem to be an unusual collegiality between the non-Liberal candidates in Kooyong.

Mr Burnside told 7.30: "I hope me and Oliver Yates can send a very strong message to the Liberals."

Mr Burnside is preferencing Mr Yates second, with Mr Yates recommending two second preference choices, of either Ms Stewart or Mr Burnside.

Should Mr Frydenberg's primary vote fall significantly, preferences may determine the outcome.

Mr Frydenberg is preferencing the United Australia Party's candidate second, in line with the national deal struck between Clive Palmer and the Liberals.

It has not gone down well with some of his most ardent supporters, including Phil Elwood, a resident of Servants Community Housing, which Mr Frydenberg has helped over the years.

When the Treasurer invited 7.30 to Servants to meet some of the residents, the script did not go entirely as planned.

"Can I ask you a serious question? Are you doing Palmer second?" Mr Elwood asked as the two men, who share a genuinely warm friendship, played pool.

Asked if he was a fan of Mr Palmer, Mr Elwood replied, "No way," before adding, "Oh well, that's politics. You can't please everyone."

Topics: government-and-politics, federal-elections, federal-government, federal-parliament, alp, liberals, kooyong-3144, australia

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