 | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Electoral district of Prahran in the Victorian Legislative Assembly | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||
_2022.svg) Location of the electoral district of Prahran | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
A by-election for the electorate of Prahran in the Victorian Legislative Assembly is scheduled to be held on 8 February 2025 following the resignation of incumbent member Sam Hibbins, which occurred on 23 November 2024.
Hibbins had resigned from the Victorian Greens several weeks prior on 1 November 2024, after it emerged that he had been having an extramarital affair with a staff member from his office, which he described as a "human mistake".
Background
Seat details
Prahran is an electoral district in the inner-southern suburbs of Melbourne, encompassing the suburbs of South Yarra, Windsor, parts of St Kilda and St Kilda East. The seat has existed since 1889 and has experienced notable political shifts over the years. In 1951, the seat saw a by-election which was won by the Victorian Labor Party. Historically, the electorate has alternated between the Labor and Liberal parties. However, in 2014, the Greens made a significant breakthrough when Sam Hibbins won the seat, despite finishing third in the primary vote, by securing preferences from the two major parties. Before his resignation, Hibbins would go on to retain the seat for the Greens at the time, narrowly in 2018 and increasing the party's margin in 2022.
Demographically, Prahran is one of Victoria's more affluent electorates. At the time of the 2021 Australian census, the seat had a median weekly personal income of $1,330, significantly higher than the state ($803) and national ($805) averages. More than half of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher (53.5%), and the median age of residents (35) is slightly younger than both the state and national rates (38).
Electoral history
| Election | 1992 | 1996 | 1999 | 2002 | 2006 | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 57.80% | 54.60% | 54.00% | 45.60% | 46.40% | 54.80% | 49.63% | 42.55% | 38.00% | |
| Labor | 42.20% | 45.40% | 46.00% | 54.40% | 53.60% | 45.20% | — | — | — | |
| Greens | — | — | — | — | — | — | 50.37% | 57.45% | 62.00% | |
| Government | L/NP | L/NP | ALP | ALP | ALP | L/NP | ALP | ALP | ALP | |
2022 election results
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2022 Victorian state election (Legislative Assembly) § Prahran.| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greens | Sam Hibbins | 14,286 | 36.4 | +8.1 | |
| Liberal | Matthew Lucas | 12,198 | 31.1 | −1.6 | |
| Labor | Wesa Chau | 10,421 | 26.6 | −3.9 | |
| Animal Justice | Alice Le Huray | 1,263 | 3.2 | +0.9 | |
| Family First | Ronald Emilsen | 626 | 1.6 | +1.6 | |
| Independent | Alan Menadue | 449 | 1.1 | +0.8 | |
| Total formal votes | 39,243 | 97.0 | +2.1 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,223 | 3.0 | −2.1 | ||
| Turnout | 40,466 | 82.7 | −1.6 | ||
| Notional two-party-preferred count | |||||
| Labor | Wesa Chau | 23,966 | 61.1 | +2.4 | |
| Liberal | Matthew Lucas | 15,277 | 38.9 | –2.4 | |
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Greens | Sam Hibbins | 24,334 | 62.0 | +3.0 | |
| Liberal | Matthew Lucas | 14,909 | 38.0 | −3.0 | |
| Greens hold | Swing | +3.0 | |||
Candidates
| Party | Candidate | Background | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greens | Angelica Di Camillo | Environmental engineer and 2023 Aston by-election candidate | |
| Independent | Tony Lupton | Former Labor MP for Prahran (2002–2010) | |
| Liberal | Rachel Westaway | Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, former Liberal candidate for the New South Wales Legislative Council (2003). | |
Greens
On 2 December 2024, the Victorian Greens announced their candidate as environmental engineer Angelica Di Camillo. Di Camillo was the Greens candidate at the 2023 Aston by-election, and was also preselected by the party to contest the electorate of Higgins at the 2025 federal election prior to the seat's abolition.
Liberal
Victorian Liberal Party leader John Pesutto announced on 25 November 2024 that the party would contest Prahran, having last held the seat with Clem Newton-Brown from 2010 to 2014. Rachel Westaway, a member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and previously an unsuccessful Liberal candidate for the New South Wales Legislative Council at the 2003 state election, was preselected as the party's candidate on 15 December 2024.
Labor
On 27 November 2024, state premier and Labor leader Jacinta Allan announced that the party would not field a candidate at the by-election. The party last held Prahran from 2002 to 2010 with Tony Lupton and was narrowly defeated by Hibbins at the 2014 Victorian state election. This would be the first election in Prahran history, not to have a Labor candidate running. However, Lupton himself has declared his intention to recontest the seat as an independent, citing community support for his candidacy.
References
- Andy Yu (23 November 2024). "Prahran MP Sam Hibbins announces he is quitting parliament". ABC News.
- "Members: Member for Prahran: Resignation". Parliament of Victoria. 26 November 2024. Archived from the original on 28 November 2024.
- Carmody, Annika Smethurst, Broede (1 November 2024). "'I am angry': Greens leader says co-deputy never welcome back after staffer affair revelation". The Age. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - "Victorian Greens leader condemns behaviour of MP who resigned over relationship with staffer". ABC News. 1 November 2024. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
- "Prahran by-election, 2025". The Tally Room. 23 November 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- "2021 Prahran (Southern Metropolitan), Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- Green, Antony (11 January 2023). "VIC22 – 2-Party Preferred Results and Swings by District". Antony Green's Election Blog. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- VIC 2021 Final Redistribution, ABC News. [Retrieved 1 January 2023.
- Prahran District results, Victorian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
- Lupton, Tony (11 October 2024). "After a lifetime of Labor membership I find the party no longer represents my values". The Australian. Archived from the original on 11 October 2024. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
- ^ Ward, Roy (15 December 2024). "J.K. Rowling congratulates Deeming as Pesutto says he wants to work with Groth". The Age. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- "New Greens candidate Angelica Di Camillo set to square off against Liberals in upcoming Prahran by-election". ABC News. 2 December 2024.
- "Labor opts against running a candidate in Prahran by-election triggered by resignation of former Greens MP Sam Hibbins". Sky News Australia. 27 November 2024. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
- Kolovos, Benita; correspondent, Benita Kolovos Victorian state (24 November 2024). "Victorian Labor considering push to retake Prahran after surprise resignation of former Greens MP". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
{{cite news}}:|last2=has generic name (help) - "Following a shock resignation, a three-way political battle has begun in this affluent Melbourne electorate". ABC News. 24 November 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- "Ex-Labor MP brands his old party 'cowardly' as he seeks re-election". The Age. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.