Greens candidate Lidia Thorpe’s win in Northcote by-election spells trouble for Labor

THE Greens could storm next year’s state election and hold the balance of power if voters in other inner-city seats continue to abandon Labor.

Victorian Greens celebrate Lidia Thorpe’s victory in Northcote. Picture: AAP

THE Greens could storm next year’s state election and hold the balance of power if voters in other inner-city seats continue to abandon Labor.

Premier Daniel Andrews may have to share power with the Greens if his government continues to haemorrhage voters at next November’s poll.

GREENS CANDIDATE LYDIA THORPE SPEAKS OUT

NORTHCOTE ELECTS FIRST ABORIGINAL WOMEN

The Andrews Government suffered a major blow on Saturday when Greens candidate Lidia Thorpe won a third seat for the Left-wing party in the Victorian lower house in the Northcote by-election.

Senior ALP sources said they had feared this time would come and a strategy change was needed to focus on the issues concerning suburban families.

Victorian Greens celebrate Lidia Thorpe’s victory in Northcote. Picture: AAP

One said a “s---” campaign from the Greens was not enough to stop its brand smashing the party, and that was a sign of things to come.

Some party figures are uneasy about the huge number of “Leftie” policies that have been rolled out — such as injecting rooms and plastic bag bans — and the fact this couldn’t save the government at a by-election. But some warned about throwing in the towel because forming government with the Greens holding key numbers in the lower house could be fraught.

Political expert Dr Nick Economou from Monash University said inner-city electorates were no longer safe for Labor. “Clearly, Labor is losing support in inner-Melbourne quite dramatically,” he said.

“They could possibly lose another three seats, including Richmond, Brunswick and Albert Park.

“In the distant future Labor could even risk losing seats like Footscray and Williamstown.

Experts believe minor parties such as the Greens and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation could play a big part in shaping state governments in the future. Picture: Justin Brierty

ANALYSIS: SWING TO GREENS AN OMINOUS SIGN FOR ANDREWS’ RE-ELECTION HOPES

Dr Economou said the future of Victorian politics may be about coalition or minority governance. “If Labor has aspirations to hang on to government, they may have to share power with the Greens,” he said.

“Northcote is a sign the vote in those inner-city electorates is now split.”

Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam said the Northcote win had created “incredible momentum” for the party. “We have big election goals; we want to win the seats of Brunswick and Richmond,” she said. “We’re aiming for the balance of power in both houses of parliament.”

Ms Ratnam said she would wait until after the election to consider forming a coalition government with Daniel Andrews. “We want to see a progressive government in 2018,” she said.

Brunswick and Richmond are held on knife-edge margins of about 2 per cent.

While senior Labor figures said they expected the Greens’ vote to peak at some stage, the next election would be crunch time for the fight on the Left.

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