One seat that Ms Tips is taking a particular interest in is the seat of Higgins, currently held by Assistant Treasurer Kelly O’Dwyer. The blue-ribbon Liberal electorate covers suburbs like South Yarra and Malvern in Melbourne’s inner south-east. O’Dwyer is challenged by Labor’s Carl Katter and the Greens’ Jason Ball, who has a high public profile after his advocacy for gay football players and diversity in the AFL. The seat also covers the state seat of Prahran, a Liberal-held seat that was won by the Greens in the 2014 election. We received this dispatch from a tipster:

“Constituent in Higgins was the subject last night of a detailed phone poll by Q and A Research, focusing very heavily on distribution of preferences. Was this commissioned by the Libs, worried that Ms O’Dwyer may not crack the magic 50% plus 1 in primary votes? On a related point, with current declared candidates for Higgins being two gay men and two women, what is a homophobic, misogynist man supposed to do?”

The preference deals in the seat of former treasurer Peter Costello are ones to watch. And of course, the real victims here are the homophobes and the misogynists, but we’re sure they’ll get through it.