The results of the Victorian byelections in Werribee and Prahran on February 8 suggest disillusion with the major parties is growing.
The Labor Party suffered a 16.7% swing against it in聽. However, the Liberal Party only gained a positive swing of 3.7%.
Labor and the Liberals received of the primary vote.
More than 12 candidates ran on varied politics. Smaller parties and independents, including the Greens, Legalise Cannabis and the Victorian Socialists (VS), gained from the disillusion with Labor.
So did independent , whose platform included public transport, public safety, public health care and public education. He received 14.7%.
At the time of writing, VS candidate Sue Munro received a strong primary vote of 7.3%, only slightly behind the Greens (which was at the top of the ballot), which received 7.5%.
The VS received a high 13% and 15% in some booths, despite the against Munro, including alleging that she is antisemitic.
While the Werribee results are yet to be declared, Labor leads the Liberals by just 1% in the two-candidate preferred count.
Reports suggest that聽 of 10.2% in the outer west of Victoria has dropped to just 0.6%.
In the聽, where Labor did not stand a candidate, Liberals won the seat from the Greens, which had held it since 2014.
,聽including the Animal Justice Party and a host of right-wing and conservative parties such as Family First Victoria, Libertarian Party and Sustainable Australia Party聽鈥 Stop Overdevelopment/Corruption.
The right-wing group had mounted a concerted campaign against the Greens, accusing it of being 鈥渆xtremist鈥 because it supports justice in Palestine and the decriminalisation of some drugs.聽
The Greens vote remained relatively stable, however, receiving up to 36.2% of the primary vote, compared to 36.4% in 2022.
聽William Bowe suggested on February 10 that the low elector turnout (64.3%) contributed to the Greens losing the seat.
Bowe also suggested that Tony Lupton, the last Labor MP for Prahran, who ran as an independent this time around and urged voters to put the 鈥渢oxic鈥 Greens last, had an impact. Lupton received 12.8% of the primary vote.