I live in a very safe Nationals seat and taking to people after the election there's a lot of truth in what you say, some of the things that Labour ran on that had no traction, Women's issues came over as manufactured and disingenuous, Franking credits couldn't be explained, Death Taxes people believed, the negative gearing issues went flat, most of the kids that were supposed to vote for the environment voted for Grandma and Grandpa, the family trust, the farm and the holiday house/investment property their going to inherit but most of all people just disliked Bill, even blokes in the timber industry that have been unionists for 50years wouldn't vote for him.It is a trend happening all around the place. Trump's election and even the election here. Even in our election you can see it in the booth by booth. In the inner city area there were swings to Labor. The more you went out of the city it changed the other way.
I can only assume people feel they're being left behind and ignored with the more progressive side of politics.
The irony is that it's been State Labour governments that have kept this place alive for the last 20 years, massive Hospital extension and resulting jobs, massive extensions to DWELPI and the consequent jobs, the same for the local timber Mill closed under the Libs but reopened by CFMEU and a Labour Government. The drought from 85 to 98 saw Ovine Johnes ravage farming around Ensay, Kennet's answer was simply to buy the land back at below value, saved a few from complete bankruptcy, but destroyed just as many, then the floods in 98 well let's just say the response was as little as possible. Ensay is still there but no school, no post office, no football club and deregistered as a town, but you can be sure than no one voted for Labour.
Truth is people aren't rational, they have beliefs and emotions that they rationalise, they do things more from habit than reason and it's always easier to believe than think.
Labour wasn't elected because Bill was unelectable for too many people, 10 years ago Bill was one of the faceless men that tore down K Rudd, then the same with Julia, then a Royal Commission to blacken his name even more, people just didn't believe in him didn't even want to believe in him, Libs made the election about Bill and ran an empty chair with a cap on it against him. The empty chair won.