Five days after close of polls in the 3 May 2025 federal general election, the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt, conceded that he had lost the seat of Melbourne, which he had held for the last 14.5 years and which was the first House of Representatives electorate held by the Greens since the party's inception in 1995.
Bandt lost to a first time federal Labor candidate, Sarah Witty - 33,616 votes to 29,785 on a two-party preferred basis as at 2:28:38 PM AEST on Thursday 8 May 2025.
Melbourne was the third federal electorate lost by a sitting Australian Greens MP to Labor at this election. The others being Brisbane & Griffith, both Queensland electorates held since 2022 by Stephen Bates and Max Chandler-Mather respectively. At the time of writing, a fourth Greens MP may or may not hold the Ryan electorate (Qld) also won at the 2022 federal election.
If Ms. Elizabeth Watson-Brown does not retain Ryan then the Australian Greens will have to rely on their presence in the Senate for representation in the Australian Parliament.
It is expected that the Australian Greens will hold their 2022 representation numbers in the Senate, although this will not be confirmed until 16 May 2025 when Senate preference results are published.
The Australian Greens Party issued an online statement on 8 May 2025 which included the following statement from Adam Bandt, which although commencing with a gracious first paragraph true to form then reverted to casting blame for his defeat on others, accepting no personal responsibility, mischaracterisation and over-the-top bragging.
Comment attributable to Adam Bandt:
“A short time ago I called the Labor candidate for Melbourne, Sarah Witty, to concede, congratulate her and wish her all the best as the next Member for Melbourne.
The Greens got the highest vote in Melbourne, but One Nation and Liberal preferences will get Labor over the line.
To win in Melbourne we needed to overcome Liberal, Labor and One Nation combined, and it’s an Everest we’ve climbed a few times now, but this time we fell just short.
I want to thank the Melbourne community for regularly giving me the highest vote, including this election, and to thank you for the last 15 years and the chance to do some amazing things together.
Together we’ve made marriage equality law after getting the highest vote in the country in the plebiscite no-one should have had to have.
We worked hard together to get the highest vote in the Voice referendum, sending a message of hope that big parts of Australia still want to see First Nations justice.
Together we got dental into Medicare for kids and world leading climate legislation.
The price on pollution worked. It really worked. It was the only thing that has actually cut climate pollution in this country. In the middle of a climate crisis, we actually turned the corner.
Fighting the climate crisis is the reason I got into politics, and I want to thank you for helping us make a difference.
Together we’ve been powerful. As a community, we’ve been a progressive beacon for the nation. We’ve stood for justice, for compassion and we’ve led the way on the national stage.
It has been a joy to represent you and I hope I’ve made you proud.
I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved as Leader.
We’ve achieved the highest vote in Greens history and our biggest ever representation in Parliament.
We got billions for public and community housing, we won people the right to disconnect, and strengthened our climate laws, even though nowhere nearly enough.
This election, we may end up also with a record high vote in the Senate too of around 13%, with some Senators effectively getting a quota in their own right.
I leave with the Greens now having the sole balance of power in the Senate.
The government now can’t blame any independent Senator for not making reforms: the only thing stopping getting dental into Medicare, stopping new coal and gas mines or rebalancing housing tax breaks is the government itself.
There are also now a big number of seats across the country where the Greens are second.
We know about the Greens, the Teals, and now there’s the Purples. Mix red and blue together and you get purple. There are now a swathe of seats where Labor MPs owe their political life to the Liberals’ preferences, and the Greens are the real opposition to the two party system.
If the government doesn’t use its big majority to start actually cutting climate pollution and tackling Australia’s massive inequality crisis, watch for a big swing at the next election and see those purple seats go Green.
In Melbourne, the boundaries changed and made the seat much more marginal, and I feel that a number of people shifted their votes to Labor to keep Dutton out, but by far the biggest factor was Liberal and One Nation preferences going to Labor to push them over the line despite our high primary vote.
As I said before, to win in Melbourne, we have had to regularly overcome the two major parties working together on preferences. It’s not like the traditional contests, where Labor just has to beat Liberal. The Greens have had to beat Labor and Liberal combined. It’s climbing Everest, and we’ve managed to do it a few times, but this time we fell just short. More people in Melbourne voted Greens than anyone else - we got the highest vote - but Liberal and One Nation preferences will get Labor over the line.
I don’t know if many other minor party or independent MPs have done what we’ve done and won without either major party sending them preferences, but we’ve done something pretty incredible over the years. This time, everyone was gunning for us, and we came very very close, but couldn’t quite get there.
I hope that the media start to hold this new Labor majority government to account on climate especially, because the government is saying they care but are approving more coal and gas projects and putting a safer climate out of reach.
I want to thank my colleagues for their strong support and absolute brilliance. I want to thank the former Leaders of our party who have offered me wisdom and guidance. As well as everyone in Melbourne, I especially want to thank the African and Muslim communities, who have welcomed me so warmly and who I’ve been so proud to represent.
I'm proud to have raised my voice for the people of Palestine who are being decimated, and to have continued to call for a just and lasting peace for Palestinians and Israelis based on an end to the invasion and an end to the occupation.
Millions of people have voted Greens – renters and first home buyers, people who want real action on the climate and environment emergency, all those horrified about the genocide of the Palestinian people – you’ve sent a clear message that you want action. The Greens will keep fighting for you.
When you’re taking on the combined might of both major parties, big corporations, the coal and gas lobby, and challenging a system that puts their profit before people, there will be obstacles. But I know we are on the right path and we won’t stop now.
To the tens of thousands of people who have poured their hearts into our movement – you have run a bold, joyful, visionary campaign, and I cannot thank you enough.
I want to thank my incredible staff and all the Greens team, who have worked so hard over all these years, for their trust and support. Your commitment and intellect amazes me daily.
Thanks to my kids for your love, support and patience. Thanks to my Mum and Dad for doing so much to make this possible. And finally, thank you to my incredible wife Claudia, who is one of the sharpest political minds I know, for being my partner on this journey, and for all you have given.”
Hopefully the Australian Greens Party will regain the respect and confidence of the national electorate which was sadly diminished under Adam Bandt's style of national leadership.
