Why Liberal preferences matter in Victoria

In November 2010, Victorian Premier John Brumby, a more temperamental character than his predecessor Steve Bracks, appeared to be leading the Labor government to a narrow re-election.

The biggest curiosity of the campaign was whether Labor would lose home seats to the Greens.

Combined with Liberal gains, could this force the Brumby government into a minority government with the Greens holding the balance of power? Will this be a repeat of the Gillard government’s reversal of a few months ago and lead to a similar push for policy change from the Greens?

I remember sitting in the ABC’s Melbourne newsroom one afternoon in the final week of this campaign when the most unexpected news emerged.