Result looms as count hastens after Werribee by-election

Vote counting in the tight race for Werribee will be brought forward, with a significant number of the outstanding votes expected to be published on Thursday.

Victorian Labor Premier Jacinta Allan. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Vote counting in the race for Werribee will be brought forward, with a significant number of the remaining votes expected to be known on Thursday.

With about 75 per cent of the votes counted following Saturday’s by-election, the seat ­remains too close to call, with Labor leading the Liberals by just 441 votes on a two-party-preferred basis.

The contest was set to drag on until at least Friday night, but the Victorian Electoral Commission now expects to release the results of a significant portion of the 4111 outstanding postal votes on Thursday evening.

Provisional results show a large swing against Labor in a heartland seat the party has held since 1979, leaving it on a knife’s edge.

Liberal MP and opposition health spokesperson Georgie Crozier said Labor had taken the people of Werribee for granted for decades. Picture: NewsWire / Josie Hayden.

On Wednesday, Victorian Liberal MP Georgie Crozier said the backlash against the Allan Labor government was due to its “mismanagement” of the budget, including a failure to prioritise health services and vital infrastructure.

“Werribee has been taken for granted for decades by Labor, they’re now speaking out, and we saw that on Saturday, with that massive swing against Labor,” Ms Crozier said.

“People have had enough of the Allan Labor government, they’re on the nose.”