Ex-Labor MP brands his old party ‘cowardly’ as he seeks re-election

An ex-Labor MP will run as an independent candidate for his old state seat of Prahran, spurred by what he says is his former party’s “cowardly” decision to skip an upcoming byelection.

Tony Lupton served as the Labor member for the inner-city electorate for nearly a decade. His decision to run as an independent could spice up a contest that was assumed to be a battle between the Greens and the Liberals.

The then Labor member for Prahran, Tony Lupton, at polling booths for the 2006 state election. Credit: Rebecca Hallas

“I’m standing because Labor’s cowardly decision not to run in this byelection would have left many people disenfranchised and without a genuine choice,” he said

The byelection was triggered last month when Greens MP Sam Hibbins, who snared the seat in 2014, resigned from parliament after admitting to an affair with a staffer.

Lupton, a former barrister, said on Sunday his decision to contest the seat followed conversations involving “a range of people” in the community unimpressed by the choice between a Liberal or a Greens candidate.

He said there were disaffected Liberal voters who weren’t happy with its dysfunction, while people were also walking away from the Greens, citing the party’s recent council results.

“People know that I’ve got strong traditional Labor values, and Labor supporters and Labor-leaning people can have confidence that I would represent the traditional Labor Party values that they’re comfortable with,” he said.

Lupton first won the seat of Prahran in 2002, holding it for two terms before he was ousted in 2010 by Liberal Clem Newton-Brown.

The 67-year-old announced his campaign on Sunday alongside former Labor colleague Philip Dalidakis, who was a frontbencher in the Andrews government and is now a lobbyist.

“The Labor Party has often, in my view, succumbed to the temptation to cozy up to the Greens to try to hold on to seats that have been traditionally regarded as Labor seats,” Lupton said.

He will run against Greens candidate Angelica Di Camillo, an environmental engineer. Liberal preselection is scheduled for December 15.

The byelection was considered a potential test for the Allan government’s popularity until Labor chose not to run. That decision rankled some within party ranks, who argued Labor had a strong narrative to run for a seat like Prahran.

Hibbins held the seat by a 12 per cent margin after preferences in the 2022 state election. However, the Liberals, Labor and the Greens each received at least a quarter of the primary vote.

Lupton dismissed suggestions his ticket would feed votes to the Liberal candidate.

“I’m running to win, so I would hope that my preferences aren’t distributed. That’s my intention,” he said.

Premier Jacinta Allan declined to comment on Lupton’s announcement, but defended the party’s decision to not field a candidate.

“The Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party have made their views on that byelection … [it is] primarily a contest between the Liberal Party and the Greens political party.”

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