25 hours before voting closes but we know the results
Was it a Labor victory, or was it a rejection of Liberal policies
Are there long term messages for any party
What won, and lost the election
What are, if any, the impacts on next years federal election
How can that election be won or lost?

Belly,
No, it was not a Labor Victory, it was a victory for the hangers-on & a massive loss for integrity.

There is not much to “take” about, with Labor looking to have a 60 seat majority. And , the only excuse coming from the Liberals is the sacking of Turnbull, an event that has nothing to do with state politics. They will now move further to the left, and Victoria will eventually be a one-party state like China, a great friend to Victoria, apparently.

The sooner the Liberal party dies and Australians have the benefit of a real, conservative option to Labor the better. Andrews’ incompetence and big spending should would have seen Labor reduced to the rump that the Liberals will now be, under normal circumstances. This result shows what a sorry state that the Liberal party is in.

Dear Belly,

The Victorian Government focused on the practical:
upgrading hospitals, new schools, the removal
of level crossings, a huge infrastructure program.
People will overlook many failings if they see
things happening. The Andrews Government did
what it said it would do. It kept its promises.

The mistake that Matthew Guy made was run a fear
campaign that crime was out of control. This
rhetoric did not convince a more sophisticated
electorate. Also, he said that he would get rid
of the safe injection rooms in Richmond as soon
as the Liberals got into office. Richmond used
to be a safe Liberal seat. It went to Labor at
this election. Those injection rooms are working.
Lives are being saved.

You'd think that the Liberals would learn something
from this election - but as we can see on the news -
the "blame game" has already started. To their
detriment, it appears that they will learn nothing
from this. Part of the problem is, as many have
tried to point out - they are about an identity
crisis facing the Liberal Party across the nation.

Matthew Guy is a moderate but his party is increasingly
divided along lines familiar in Canberra. A segment
of the party is far to the right of the electorate
and to "play" to that segment alienates others.

As Liberal MP in Victoria (one of my favourites -
she used to be in my electorate) Mary Wooldridge
said - the party needs to go back to its base.
The Liberals used to be a "broad church" with a
variety of opinions. At the time of Menzies it was
a "Liberal" party. It was not a right-wing
conservative party. If they keep doing what they're
doing, they'll keep getting what they've got.

Daniel Andrews has behaved impeccably during his
campaign. He did not get involved in politics.
He was driven, and he drove his government into
keeping promises and getting results. That's what
voters want to see. People support governments
if they do things that improve their lives.

As to the continued shift to the Left by the Liberal party (we should soon be dropping the capital 'L’), just look at the dropping of Jim Molan to an unwinnable position on the NSW senate ticket. Mind you, old Jim has been something of a disappointment, not believing it was OK to say it's OK to be white, and generally changing his persona from tough guy to bit-of-a-wimp, which seems to happen to anyone upon joining an Australian political party. Good advice to him: go independent and resurrect the General.

NSW has also put in top place on the ticket, Hollie Hughes, a disability advocate. Bet she's not a conservative, and these advocates for narrow interests are usually one trick ponies, a la Nick Xenephon

Nick Xenophon is not a "one trick" pony.
He was a Senator for South Australia from 2008 to 2017.
From 1997 to 2007 he was a member of the South Australian
Legislative Council. He has vowed to remain a political
"agitator" and has not ruled out a return to politics.