How did the federal election polls get it so wrong?

Bill Shorten speaks to media aside wife Chloe

Bill Shorten (right) speaks to media aside wife Chloe outside their property in Moonee Ponds, following his defeat. . Source: AAP

Australia was prepared for a Labor victory on Saturday after a huge number of political polls predicted that outcome. So, what went wrong?

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Published 21 May 2019 9:59pm

Updated 15 August 2022 3:38pm

By Jin Sun Lane, Maani Truu

Presented by Jin Sun Lane

Source: SBS

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Australia was prepared for a Labor victory on Saturday after a huge number of political polls predicted that outcome. So, what went wrong?

Polling experts and voters alike have been left baffled after the Coalition swept to an unexpected win on Saturday, flying in the face of weeks of opinion polls that predicted a Labor victory.

ABC election analyst Antony Green summed up the mood early in the night, when the Coalition began to buck the polling trends.

"At the moment, on these figures, it's a bit of a spectacular failure of opinion polling," he said.

Nearly all Newspoll, YouGov/Galaxy, Ipsos and ReachTEL polls - many which are connected to Australian news organisations - showed Labor ahead 51-49 on a two-party preferred basis right up until Friday night.

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