Victorian ‘double trouble’ for Liberals: Allan claims boost from Albanese win

Peter Dutton hoped Victoria would be his pathway to the prime ministership, but it’s turned into a giant black hole for Liberals.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan makes an announcement at the Northern Hospital redevelopment site in Epping on Sunday. Picture: David Crosling/NewsWire

You can now listen to The Australian's articles. Give us your feedback.

You can now listen to The Australian's articles.

Premier Jacinta Allan has seized on Labor’s resounding vote of support in Victoria as an endorsement of the ALP and her government’s major projects including the controversial Suburban Rail Loop.

And in one of the few negatives for Labor in Victoria, Australian Electoral Commission counting has the National Party ahead of the ALP in the central Victorian seat of Bendigo, 53.2 per cent to 46.8 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.

But overall, the election provided a major boost for Ms Allan just 18 months before the state election, with Victorian voters putting aside concerns about state Labor in rejecting the Liberal Party’s “double trouble” strategy linking Ms Allan to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Labor’s strong performance in picking up a number of seats including Menzies and Deakin has wiped the Liberals from suburban Melbourne, delivering a devastating blow to the party’s stocks ahead of the November 2026 Victorian election.

Ms Allan said the election result was a “historic and emphatic outcome for not just the broader Labor movement, but indeed for the nation as a whole”.

“I think the results yesterday, they’re not despite what’s going on here in Victoria,” she said.

“They’re because of what’s going on here in Victoria; that focus on building, on homes, on airport rail, Suburban Rail Loop, that focus on families and their hospital and education care and the focus on providing meaningful cost-of-living support.

“Australians and Victorians ... they said no to Peter Dutton and the Liberals’ cuts, and they said yes to investments in being able to make sure you can get in and see a GP, investments in healthcare. They most clearly said no to those nuclear plants, and instead said yes to cheaper renewable energy ... and Victorians and Australians said an emphatic no to those blockers, and said yes to building – building more homes, building the airport rail, building the Suburban Rail Loop.

“And that also is a big yes to supporting worker ...”

The Coalition had hoped to pick up a handful of seats from Labor and the teals, but voters abandoned the Coalition, and Deakin and Menzies were lost to Labor. The only glimmer of hope appears to be in Goldstein where Liberal Tim Wilson is holding out hope postal votes will see him defeat teal Zoe Daniel.

Ms Allan said the result raised questions for Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin.

“We also saw Victorians and Australians see straight through Peter Dutton, and what the Liberals were offering, and the question here for the Brad Battin Liberal outfit here in Victoria, is that they can see through him as well, and he needs to come clean,” she said.

“Do they (the Victorian Liberals) continue to back the cuts to airport rail, the cuts to the Suburban Rail Loop, the cuts to projects that workers and working people rely on?”

Mr Battin did not appear in public on Sunday, or make any public comment on the result.