BREAKING NEWS Greens candidate who wanted to deter Aussies from buying larger vehicles fails to win seat in parliament
A Greens candidate who previously proposed raising registration costs for larger vehicles has failed in her bid to enter federal parliament.
Labor's Peter Khalil has retained the seat of Wills with 52.11 per cent of the two-candidate-preferred vote, narrowly defeating Greens contender Samantha Ratnam, who received 47.89 per cent.
The final margin was 3,931 votes.
Ms Ratman famously called for the government to increase registration fees and parking for larger vehicles like American-style pick-up trucks when she was a councillor for Melbourne 's City of Merri-bek.
'It's an undeniable fact that super-sized vehicles are dangerous. They have blind spots up to four metres in front of the vehicle,' Ms Ratnam said in 2024
'Large utes have a role in regional areas, but these luxury vehicles - that often cost upwards of $100,000 - have significantly higher emissions, and are more dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists than regular passenger cars.
'If we want to lower our transport emissions and reduce road fatalities, we need to see less of these monster cars on our streets.
'Our roads were simply not designed for these trucks - we need to deter people from purchasing these vehicles.'
Meanwhile there has been more bad news for Greens leader Adam Bandt.
Polling expert Dr Kevin Bonham has said Mr Bandt's political career is over.
'Melbourne: ALP gain from Green,' he said on Tuesday night
'Seat has been moved to expected win status (for Labor).'
He said that he avoids 'calling' seats but added: 'I project Bandt at 47.6 in the live count which is not recoverable'.
Labor's Sarah Witty is currently leading in the race for the seat of Melbourne by an estimated 4,043 votes with a swing of 9.2 per cent, as of Tuesday night.
Bandt needs around a third of preferences to retain his seat but the AEC's official preference counts reveal flows of under 26 per cent.
Daily Mail Australia's Political Editor Peter van Onselen says Bandt is a goner, short of a miracle turnaround.
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