Greens buoyant about snatching Batman

Polling commissioned by the Greens suggests they might snatch David Feeney's seat from the sitting Labor MP with a 15 per cent swing.

Greens candidate for Batman Alex Bhathal (L) with MP Adam Bandt

Polling commissioned by the Greens suggests they might snatch David Feeney's seat of Batman. (AAP)

The Greens believe they can win a second lower house seat and unseat a Labor "factional warlord" in the process.

A Lonergan research poll gives the Greens' Alex Bhathal 41 per cent of the primary vote in the Melbourne seat of Batman, ahead of Labor frontbencher David Feeney on 28 per cent and the Liberals' George Souris on 23 per cent.

The poll, commissioned by the Greens, is encouraging and reflects the mood on the ground, Melbourne Greens MP Adam Bandt says.

"People have found out that for the Labor Party, the seat of Batman is just another piece in the chess puzzle for a factional warlord who can't even bring himself to live in the electorate," Mr Bandt told reporters on Tuesday.

Based on voter-stated preference flows, the Greens would win the seat with 55 per cent of the two-party preferred vote - a 15 per cent swing against the sitting Labor MP.

Another poll released this week has also backed Ms Bhathal to win Batman.

Using a smaller sample than the Greens-commissioned poll, the Roy Morgan research pointed to Ms Bhathal winning with 40 per cent of the primary vote, ahead of Mr Feeney on 34.5 per cent and Mr Souris on 17 per cent.

The Labor frontbencher has been notably quiet since a train-wreck interview on Sky News last month when he bumbled over the schoolkids bonus and confirmed he had failed to declare a $2.3 million negatively geared property.

A Labor campaign spokesman said in a statement Mr Feeney had been working hard in his electorate.

"If the people of Batman want a progressive government that will deliver better schools, real action on climate change, protect Medicare, create good jobs, and make multinationals pay their fair share they should vote Labor," the spokesman said.

BATMAN AT 2013 ELECTION

David Feeney (ALP) - 41 per cent

Alex Bhathal (Greens) - 26 per cent

George Souris (Lib) - 22 per cent

Two candidate preferred: David Feeney 61-39 over Alex Bhathal


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Source: AAP



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