Victoria byelections: Liberals surge in Labor heartland and are poised to snatch Greens seat | Victorian politics

Dual byelections in Victoria were too close to call early on Sunday but Werribee appears to be no longer a safe Labor seat and the Greens are trailing the Liberals in the Prahran electorate.

Political pundits will be scouring the results for clues about Labor’s electoral fortunes at state and federal levels, with the early signs concerning for the state’s governing party.

The two Victorian polls in Werribee in Melbourne’s west and Prahran in the city’s inner east marked the first time the premier, Jacinta Allan, and new opposition leader, Brad Battin, had been put to the test at the ballot box.

Labor traditionally holds Werribee but the party has slipped in the polls.

The resignation of the former treasurer Tim Pallas triggered the byelection.

Early on Sunday the Liberal candidate, Steve Murphy, had 29.04% of the primary vote with Labor’s John Lister on 28.71%. Murphy (49.45%) was trailing Lister (50.55%) on a two-candidate-preferred basis.

The Liberals had hoped to secure an upset win there and also bag Prahran, a Greens stronghold up for grabs after the MP Sam Hibbins quit in disgrace following revelations he had an affair with a staffer.

Early on Sunday the Liberal Rachel Westaway had 36.24% of the primary vote with the Greens candidate, Angelica Di Camillo, an environmental engineer and climate strategist, on 36.18%. Westaway (51.6%) was ahead of Di Camillo (48.4%) on a two-candidate-preferred basis.

Labor did not run a candidate in Prahran.

The cost of living emerged as the main concern for voters, along with housing attainability.

The Victorian Liberals also campaigned heavily on crime, after high-profile murders and knife attacks in Prahran and Werribee.

Allan touted her government’s cost-of-living support measures as she backed Labor’s Werribee candidate, Lister – a local teacher and Country Fire Authority volunteer – calling the opposition divided after a December leadership spill.

Battin hit back, accusing the government of acting more like an opposition as he campaigned for his party’s candidate, Murphy – a former police officer and army trooper.

About 104,000 people were enrolled in the two areas, with 28% of Prahran voters and 29% of those in Werribee casting ballots early or by post.