Voters in Melbourne's Prahran to head to the polls for by-election with 11 candidates running

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Next weekend, voters across two parts of Melbourne will go to the polls for by-elections. Eleven candidates are in the running for what is the state’s smallest electorate, the inner-city seat of Prahran.

Transcript

00:00Home to some of Melbourne's most exclusive neighbourhoods, the Perran electorate has

00:10been considered a seat of luxury.

00:13But this central spine has become a site of visible disadvantage and a source of anxiety

00:19for some residents, with arson strikes, machete attacks and break-ins hitting the headlines.

00:25Literally yesterday, walking home from work, just like 200 metres that way, I walked past

00:28a guy on the ground, he'd just been bashed, blood everywhere, there was police in ambos,

00:33and I see that pretty often.

00:34There was this person, and out of nowhere, just across when I passed him, just punched

00:43me and then ran away.

00:45In the area last year, there was a 12% increase in crime, with jumps in both street crime

00:51and thefts from vehicles.

00:53Offences were up across the electorate, particularly in South Yarra.

00:58You come to Chapel Street, and you have to be just aware of your surroundings.

01:03In Perran, like most electorates around Victoria right now, federal and state, there's real

01:08grievance in the electorate, and the opposition will be looking to tap into that.

01:13The by-election in Perran was triggered by the resignation of Greens MP Sam Hibbons after

01:18the ABC revealed he'd been accused of attempting to kiss an intern, events he disputes.

01:24The reporting around that is certainly a bad indicator for the Greens, it's hard to

01:29overcome that in their messaging.

01:31Mr Hibbons held the seat since winning it from the Liberals back in 2014.

01:36Tony Lupton was the last Labor MP to represent Perran, losing it in 2010.

01:41Hello, I'm Tony Lupton, the candidate for Perran.

01:44He's now running as an independent.

01:47Angry, Labor opted out of the race.

01:50I think it was a cowardly decision not to run a candidate.

01:53A political party exists in order to represent people, and that was one of the motivations

01:58for me standing.

01:59He's directing preferences towards the Liberal candidate, Rachel Westaway.

02:03This used to be a tourist destination where visitors from interstate and overseas would

02:08come.

02:09And now people walk down the street and they wonder where the shops are, they wonder where

02:11the vibrancy is.

02:13And whilst Labor aren't contesting Perran, the opportunity to vote Liberal to send a

02:17message, a consequence-free message, to the Labor government is probably their biggest

02:24concern.

02:25The Greens, with something to prove, have replaced Mr Hibbons with Angelica DiCamillo.

02:29A lot of young people are feeling so disenfranchised with politics.

02:33They feel that it doesn't serve them, they feel that their leaders aren't listening to

02:37them.

02:38And that's exactly why I put my hand up.

02:40With no Labor candidate, this race will be the first test for the Liberals' new leader,

02:44Brad Batten.

02:45And a big test for the Greens after they lost ground in the recent council elections.

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