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.
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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.