Daniel Andrews faces upper house roadblock
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will be forced to negotiate with a crossbench of 11 in the upper house to pass his agenda this term of parliament.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will be forced to negotiate with a crossbench of 11 in the upper house to pass his agenda this term of parliament, after Labor lost three seats and minor parties expanded their ranks.
Final election results for the Legislative Council were calculated on Wednesday, and saw Adem Somyurek – a former Labor MP who quit the party following branch-stacking allegations and switched to the Democratic Labour Party – returned to the upper house.
Mr Somyurek will likely make it more difficult for Labor to pass legislation as he pledged to “stop Daniel Andrews from destroying (Victoria)” during his election campaign.
Mr Andrews also lost a key ally in Reason Party Leader Fiona Patten, who conceded defeat on Monday.
Of 40 seats in the upper house, Labor MPs secured 15, the Coalition 14, the Greens four and Legalise Cannabis two. There are single representatives for the Democratic Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, Animal Justice Party, Shooters Fishers and Farmers, and One Nation.
To get a majority, the government will need the support of at least six crossbenchers.
Greens leader Samantha Ratnam was re-elected to her seat in the Northern Metropolitan region, and the party bolstered its seats from one to four since the 2018 election.
She said her party was prepared to partner with the Andrews government. “We are willing and ready to work constructively and co-operatively with this Labor government to get progressive reform in this parliament,” she said.
“Labor now has a choice. Work constructively with the Greens who have the balance of power in the upper house … or side with the Liberals, the far right, the religious right and racist parties like One Nation.”
Ms Ratnam is joined by Sarah Mansfield, who secured a seat in the Western region, the first Greens candidate to win a regional spot, along with Aiv Puglielli in the North Eastern Metropolitan region and Katherine Copsey in the Southern Metropolitan region.
Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell won a seat in the Northern Victoria region, but Andy Meddick – elected in 2018 – lost his in the Western Victoria region.
Ms Purcell said it was a “bitter sweet” result. “I’m really going to feel Andy’s absence in the parliament. I really thank him for the opportunities over the past four years,” she said. “Banning duck shooting is my No. 1 priority, I think we are very close.”
She said she would work with the Legalise Cannabis Party, which won two seats with Rachel Payne in the South Eastern Metropolitan region and David Ettershank in the Western Metropolitan region. Ms Payne said it was “thrilling” to be elected, and Mr Ettershank said they would work with government.
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