Federal Labor taking ‘nothing for granted’ after Victorian by-elections

Federal Labor is taking “nothing for granted” after their Victorian state level colleagues took a hit in by-elections over the weekend.

Federal Labor is taking “nothing for granted” after by-elections in Victoria over the weekend turned up worrying results for their colleagues in the Garden State.

As of Monday morning, Victorian Labor was just ahead of the Liberals in the race for the state seat of Werribee in Melbourne’s greater southwest.

Formerly a safe Labor seat with deep working class roots, fewer than 450 votes separated the parties’ candidates.

Meanwhile, Labor did not even put up a candidate in the inner-Melbourne seat of Prahran, which the Greens lost to the Liberals.

With a federal election looming, analysts have warned there are implications for Labor in Canberra.

Reacting to the results, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the Albanese government was aware the federal vote was “going to be really close”.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher says the Albanese government is taking ‘nothing for granted’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“I think we know what happens regardless of a state by-election in Victoria that this election is going to be really close,” she told Nine’s Today.

“I think that’s pretty clear. We take nothing for granted, we’ve got to continue to talk and address people’s cost-of-living needs.”

Minister for Indigenous Affairs Malarndirri McCarthy also said it was “difficult” but vowed to “keep fighting”.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Malarndirri McCarthy has vowed to ‘keep fighting right up to the time that we go to an election’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“We’ve shown we’re working hard,” she told the ABC’s News Breakfast.

“We’ve shown we’ve got a plan going forward. I’ve certainly watched the by-election results in Victoria.

“I know it’s difficult, certainly for Labor in Victoria, but we will keep fighting right up to the time that we go to an election.”

Meanwhile, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek put the result, at least in part, down to cost of living.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek says the Albanese government is ‘100 per cent focused’ on cost of living. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“We know that people have been under a lot of cost-of-living pressure, and that’s why we’re 100 per cent focused on taking some of that pressure … of course you pay attention (to the results),” she told Seven’s Sunrise.

“But I think one of the interesting things about the results is that there was a significant drop in the Labor vote, but most of it didn’t go to the Liberals.”

Originally published as Federal Labor taking ‘nothing for granted’ after Victorian by-elections