Ballots are being counted after a dual by-election in Melbourne. Thousands of people turned out to polling booths in the seats of Werribee and Prahran, following the retirement of former treasurer Tim Pallas in the southwest and the resignation of greens MP Sam Hibbins in the inner city. The votes are being touted as a litmus test for both major parties ahead of this year's federal election and next year's state poll. Shortly, I’ll be joined by our reporters in the two seats. But first, here's how the day unfolded.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Can I give you a how to vote card?
00:04Making a pitch for every vote, then a nervous wait to see who gets the last laugh.
00:11The separate contests in Melbourne's West and South East have sharpened attention on
00:15the state's biggest issues.
00:17There's an opportunity to sort of spend some money redeveloping public areas.
00:21Definitely crime.
00:22Chapel Street's gotten a bit dodgy lately.
00:24In Victoria's smallest electorate of Prahran, which Labor didn't contest, Green's newcomer
00:29Angelica DiCamillo is trying to hold the seat her party first won in 2014.
00:35Rachel Westerway wants to clinch it back for the Liberals, helped by former Labor MP Tony
00:40Lupton, who is directing preferences her way.
00:43I voted Greens primarily because I'd like to see influence coming in apart from the
00:47two main parties.
00:49This was the road out of the busiest polling booth in Werribee.
00:52Overburdened infrastructure in Melbourne's booming West, a key concern on locals' minds.
00:57My partner drives on that freeway all the time and to see the traffic banked up is just
01:02shocking and they need to fix it.
01:03People who are looking to buy a first house, they're struggling.
01:07I've got three kids, so you can imagine just the costs in general.
01:11A dozen candidates are vying for their votes.
01:13The seat has long been a Liberal free zone, and teacher and CFA volunteer John Lister
01:19is the Labor Party's hope of keeping it that way.
01:22He will be a strong local voice for Werribee in the parliament.
01:26Liberal estate agent Steve Murphy wants to turn the seat blue and doesn't believe living
01:30in Essendon has hurt his chances.
01:33I've lived, worked here, raised my kids here over 30 years.
01:38Given Labor's significant majority in the lower house, today's polls won't dramatically
01:42change the machinations of parliament, but that doesn't mean they're inconsequential.
01:47A significant swing against Labor in a seat like Werribee will set alarm bells ringing
01:51ahead of next year's state election.
01:53The stakes are high for the Liberals too.
01:55This is the first electoral test of the party's new leader.