David Squires instinctively will vote Greens. Credit:Craig Sillitoe Ms Blaikie, who five years ago moved from Blackburn into a Southbank high-rise, echoes criticisms last week by Victorian Labor leader Daniel Andrews that the Greens are ''absolutist'' and unwilling to compromise. ''More and more I have been veering towards the Greens but I was so angry about what they did in Federal Parliament to not give their support to the government on the issue of boat people,'' she says. ''Bugger purity. There are times in life when negotiation is important.'' Political analyst Paul Strangio says Labor's recent attacks on the Greens are tapping into disappointment among liberal left voters, particularly in Melbourne. ''This isn't your quarter-acre block classic suburbia,'' he says. ''It's less an electorate of bread-and-butter issues. They are more likely to be taking in broader issues such as asylum seekers and some believe the Greens were too intransigent and unwilling to compromise to get a solution.'' Countering this trend is a longer-term shift in inner-city seats that once stood as Labor citadels. The gentrification of working-class suburbs such as North Melbourne and Carlton has favoured the Greens. The seat of Melbourne is believed to have the state's highest proportion of rented dwellings, and the highest rates of population movement, tertiary students and recent migrant arrivals. Melbourne also has the lowest proportion of families with dependent children and the state's lowest median age, at 28. Over in North Melbourne - where Greens candidate Cathy Oke is juggling a loaf of organic olive bread while campaigning outside the local IGA - retired carpenter Allan Robertson, 65, recalls moving here from Frankston 12 years ago.

Illustration: Matt Golding. Then, the inner-city streets were ''rough and tumble'' and a drug dealer served clients across the road from his neat townhouse. Now he has three lush neighbourhood parks in which to walk his young chocolate labrador, Ruby. ''This is, don't tell everyone, a great place to live,'' he says. ''It's probably some people like that can't afford to live here now, the rent and the cost of property has gone up so much.'' His voting patterns have changed. ''I have worked for myself for most of my life so I have voted Liberal, occasionally I have voted Labor and I did vote for the Greens last time, but I don't think I will do it again,'' he says. ''The Greens' expectations are unrealistic, on boat people they should have compromised. They live in a dream world.'' A Roy Morgan poll last month put the Greens ahead of Labor 54 per cent to 46 per cent, on the back of the preferences of independent candidates. Labor, which holds Melbourne by 6.2 per cent, would have lost the seat in 2010 without Liberal preferences. But the state government's decision not to stand a candidate on Saturday has left a question mark over Liberal voters, particularly in wealthy areas such as Southbank and Docklands. The Morgan poll found that when faced with a choice between Labor and the Greens, 72.5 per cent of Liberal voters said they would favour the ALP. ''It's probably clever for the Labor Party to attack the Greens before the election, I think it will attract Liberal voters who have nowhere else to go,'' Gary Morgan says.

Resident Ian Bird, 74, of the Carlton Residents Association, hopes the Greens will win but suspects Labor ''might sneak home'', partly because of attacks on the Greens as ''spoilers''. Mr Bird, an electronics engineer, lives in a laneway off Lygon Street with wife Greta, 73, in sight of cafes, housing commission towers and student apartment buildings. ''It is said there is only a relatively small socio-economic group of people who are interested in the big picture: if you're poor you're worried about where your next meal is coming from; if you're rich, you can buy your way out of anything,'' he says. ''It's those of us in the middle that are OK who can afford to put a bit of time, effort and money into the other issues; into the big-picture issues. And there are a lot of people like that in this community … Many of us here are concerned about the environment, we are concerned about refugees, we are concerned about quality of life.'' Around the corner in a rented share house, David Squires, 28, has given little thought to any of the party's policies. But the retail worker plans to vote Greens - almost instinctively, he says. ''It feels like what you should be doing when you're 28 and living in inner-city Melbourne, I suppose,'' he says. ''It seems like it's an educated choice, but it's not at all; there is no real reason behind it.'' ■peter.munro@theage.com.au