Premier Jacinta Allan and her government are sweating on the results of the Werribee by-election this coming Saturday. Inadequate infrastructure is the chief concern for voters which is causing headaches for an under-pressure government.
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00:00This is Melbourne's seemingly ever-expanding west.
00:07These new estates around Werribee have driven one of the biggest population booms in the
00:11country.
00:12And there's plenty of growing pains, especially when it comes to infrastructure.
00:16It's made a once-safe Labor seat vulnerable.
00:18I think people do sort of feel like they've been forgotten in this area, or perhaps taken
00:23for granted.
00:24It depends how much people trust the current government.
00:26Do you trust them?
00:28No, I don't.
00:30These types of suburbs are a critical test for Jacinta Allen.
00:33While Werribee has long been a Labor heartland, things have changed.
00:37The area has grown, and across the state, Labor is on the nose.
00:40Which is why it can ill afford to lose seats like this if it's to win a historic fourth
00:45term in two years' time.
00:47Former Treasurer Tim Pallis held the seat by a comfortable 11 per cent, but his exit
00:52has opened the door.
00:53What drew you to Werribee?
00:55A brand new estate, an opportunity to build something affordable and an upgrade to where
01:00we previously lived in Point Cook.
01:02Stephen Chan voted Labor at the past two elections, but he's frustrated with unfinished roads
01:06in the area, including this much-touted link to the freeway.
01:10The population's actually growing, and there's going to be more and more people coming into
01:14the area, which means that there's going to be more challenges on the roads.
01:18Like many, Stephen Chan feels the community has been taken for granted.
01:21I think it's time for change, and I think there's a lot of people that I've been talking
01:25to locally that are looking for change.
01:27Have you made up your mind?
01:28Not yet.
01:30Statewide polling shows support for the government has crumbled, and this by-election is important
01:34because there's more than a dozen Labor-held seats like it across Melbourne.
01:38This part of Melbourne was probably the part of Melbourne that suffered the most during
01:41the lockdowns, and never really recovered.
01:44So they've had to endure the lockdowns, and then of course 12 interest rate rises.
01:49Coupled with infrastructure shortfalls, you've got a perfect storm brewing at the moment.
01:55Local teacher John Lister is the man entrusted by Labor to batten down the hatches.
02:00I'm always up for a fight.
02:01I think all my students will attest that if I see something, I'll want to try and fix it.
02:07While Labor is campaigning on building roads and schools, the Liberal's Steve Murphy, a
02:11local businessman who lives in Essendon, is tapping into feelings of neglect.
02:16There's just so much that needs doing that I can draw attention to, and you know, put
02:24the pressure on, embarrass the government or whatever, to be able to do the right thing.
02:29We've been left alone for too long.
02:30There's a dozen candidates.
02:31Paul Hopper, a local car dealer, looms as the best-placed Independent to upset the duopoly.
02:36His biggest issue?
02:37Crime.
02:38Yeah, public safety, crime, second would be roads.
02:42The wearaby result for new Liberal leader Brad Batten is also important.
02:46He needs to win at least 17 seats to end Labor's rule in 2026.
02:50To do that, he has to make inroads in the outer suburbs.
02:53The narrative that Labor's in trouble in the North and North West is indeed correct.
02:58However, if you look at where the votes went in 2022 at the state election, they mostly
03:02went to Independents and other parties.
03:04The Liberal Party's primary vote in the West and the North West is still extremely low.
03:09And that's a problem for them.
03:11Wearaby is the canary in the coal mine.
03:13If Labor loses or suffers big swings, there'll be questions from within about the Premier
03:17and the direction of her government.
03:19The next election is less than two years away, so there's time to turn it around.
03:23But it will require swift action.