Northcote by-election result an ominous sign for Andrews’ hopes
PREMIER Daniel Andrews’ hopes of being re-elected just got a lot harder with Northcote unlikely to be the only seat the Greens take from Labor, writes Matt Johnston.
Opinion
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THINGS just got a lot harder for the Andrews Government’s re-election campaign next year.
The Greens have moved in on the inner city and they’re taking Labor territory.
The government and the ALP threw everything at this campaign, including a truckload of money.
LABOR TO TARGET OUTER SUBURBS AFTER NORTHCOTE LOSS
Some MPs were quietly hopeful the party had done enough to get over the line.
But a cavalcade of left-leaning policies and pork-barrelling without shame weren’t enough.
Last night the ALP was blunt about the devastating result, blaming the Greens’ strong and growing brand in the area.
The next campaign in the inner north will begin almost immediately, because a general state election is just 12 months away.
Labor is now considering the prospect of losing Northcote, Brunswick and Richmond to the
left-leaning protest party.
Some think this is inevitable, next term or the one after. If this government nightmare turns to reality it would give the Greens up to five seats in the Legislative Assembly.
Unless the government picks up a swag of seats elsewhere it may have to negotiate with its enemies to the left whenever key legislation comes to State Parliament.
The same goes for the coalition if it sneaks over the line.
Will this mean Labor continues to pour resources into that patch, or will it retreat with white flags raised?
Liberal Party strategists must now surely focus on honing its message to warn of a Labor-Greens government.
This makes its decision not to run in the inner city at the next election puzzling — surely it could get more benefit out of having a presence there than abandoning altogether.
Still, the coalition will be pleased the Andrews Government has to keep fighting on two fronts — lefty territory and the outer suburbs and regions — and that they’ve taken a hit this time.
A year is a long time in politics, and the tide can shift a long way in that time for the state’s polarising Premier Daniel Andrews.
Whichever party ends up being king of Melbourne’s inner north will play a huge part in whether he stays in that job and the government can command a strong and workable majority.
The result in Northcote is not a good sign. It is ominous.
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