By Rachael Ward, AAP
A date is set for Jacinta Allan’s first electoral test as premier, with voters in the former treasurer’s seat heading to the polls for a by-election.
The vote to decide the new member for Werribee in Melbourne’s west will be held on 8 February, 2025, the same day as a by-election in the inner-city seat of Prahran.
More than 104,000 people will have to vote across both electorates.
On Monday 6 January, former treasurer Tim Pallas formally resigned as a member of Victoria’s parliament – three weeks after he revealed plans to quit politics.
Mr Pallas represented Werribee for 18 years and comfortably won at the last state election with 45.36 per cent of the primary vote, however the Liberals and several minor parties increased their share of votes at the 2022 poll.
Teacher and CFA volunteer John Lister is Labor’s candidate for Werribee, while the Liberals and Greens are yet to reveal their challengers.
Voters have seven days to ensure their enrolment details are up to date.
Labor secured a large majority and third term in 2022 under the leadership of former premier Daniel Andrews, however he resigned in September 2023 and the government’s popularity has since slid.
In early November, former Liberal leader John Pesutto overtook Ms Allan as preferred premier in a Resolve Political Monitor poll weeks before he was toppled by Berwick MP Brad Battin.
The Liberal leadership change came in the fallout after a Federal Court judge found Mr Pesutto had defamed MP Moira Deeming, who has since been readmitted to the party.
The Werribee vote is being held on the same day as the hotly contested Prahran by-election, which was triggered when Greens MP Sam Hibbins resigned in controversy.
Mr Hibbins quit the party and parliament after having an affair with a staffer.
The Greens, Labor and Liberals have each held the inner city seat over the past two decades, however the government will not field a candidate at the upcoming vote.
