Election entrée: Surprising preference flows
In the 2022 election, the count in the seat of Brisbane was on a knife edge.
The LNP came first on 38%, Labor second with 27%, and the Greens third also with 27% – just 11 votes behind Labor.
A surprising trend emerged: when right-wing minor party candidates were eliminated their preferences favoured the Greens over Labor.
Preferences from United Australia and One Nation voters, as well as Animal Justice voters, propelled Greens candidate Stephen Bates ahead of Labor, at which point Labor preferences won the seat for Bates at the expense of sitting LNP MP Trevor Evans.
Elsewhere in Queensland, in the seat of Groom, independent Suzie Holt went from fourth place with 8% of the vote to finish second with 43% on preferences.
This improbable result occurred because she was favoured above the Liberal National candidate by voters across the political spectrum: Greens, One Nation and Labor voters.
These unexpected results are a reminder that you, the voter, decide your preferences, not the political parties – and those preferences could decide an election.
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