The previously safe Victorian Labor seat of Werribee is now a key one to win

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Premier Jacinta Allan and her government are sweating on the results of the Werribee by-election this coming Saturday. Inadequate infrastructure is the chief concern for voters which is causing headaches for an under-pressure government.

Transcript

00:00This is Melbourne's seemingly ever-expanding west.

00:07These new estates around Werribee have driven one of the biggest population booms in the

00:11country.

00:12And there's plenty of growing pains, especially when it comes to infrastructure.

00:16It's made a once-safe Labor seat vulnerable.

00:18I think people do sort of feel like they've been forgotten in this area, or perhaps taken

00:23for granted.

00:24It depends how much people trust the current government.

00:26Do you trust them?

00:28No, I don't.

00:30These types of suburbs are a critical test for Jacinta Allen.

00:33While Werribee has long been a Labor heartland, things have changed.

00:37The area has grown, and across the state, Labor is on the nose.

00:40Which is why it can ill afford to lose seats like this if it's to win a historic fourth

00:45term in two years' time.

00:47Former Treasurer Tim Pallis held the seat by a comfortable 11 per cent, but his exit

00:52has opened the door.

00:53What drew you to Werribee?

00:55A brand new estate, an opportunity to build something affordable and an upgrade to where

01:00we previously lived in Point Cook.

01:02Stephen Chan voted Labor at the past two elections, but he's frustrated with unfinished roads

01:06in the area, including this much-touted link to the freeway.

01:10The population's actually growing, and there's going to be more and more people coming into

01:14the area, which means that there's going to be more challenges on the roads.

01:18Like many, Stephen Chan feels the community has been taken for granted.

01:21I think it's time for change, and I think there's a lot of people that I've been talking

01:25to locally that are looking for change.

01:27Have you made up your mind?

01:28Not yet.

01:30Statewide polling shows support for the government has crumbled, and this by-election is important

01:34because there's more than a dozen Labor-held seats like it across Melbourne.

01:38This part of Melbourne was probably the part of Melbourne that suffered the most during

01:41the lockdowns, and never really recovered.

01:44So they've had to endure the lockdowns, and then of course 12 interest rate rises.

01:49Coupled with infrastructure shortfalls, you've got a perfect storm brewing at the moment.

01:55Local teacher John Lister is the man entrusted by Labor to batten down the hatches.

02:00I'm always up for a fight.

02:01I think all my students will attest that if I see something, I'll want to try and fix it.

02:07While Labor is campaigning on building roads and schools, the Liberal's Steve Murphy, a

02:11local businessman who lives in Essendon, is tapping into feelings of neglect.

02:16There's just so much that needs doing that I can draw attention to, and you know, put

02:24the pressure on, embarrass the government or whatever, to be able to do the right thing.

02:29We've been left alone for too long.

02:30There's a dozen candidates.

02:31Paul Hopper, a local car dealer, looms as the best-placed Independent to upset the duopoly.

02:36His biggest issue?

02:37Crime.

02:38Yeah, public safety, crime, second would be roads.

02:42The wearaby result for new Liberal leader Brad Batten is also important.

02:46He needs to win at least 17 seats to end Labor's rule in 2026.

02:50To do that, he has to make inroads in the outer suburbs.

02:53The narrative that Labor's in trouble in the North and North West is indeed correct.

02:58However, if you look at where the votes went in 2022 at the state election, they mostly

03:02went to Independents and other parties.

03:04The Liberal Party's primary vote in the West and the North West is still extremely low.

03:09And that's a problem for them.

03:11Wearaby is the canary in the coal mine.

03:13If Labor loses or suffers big swings, there'll be questions from within about the Premier

03:17and the direction of her government.

03:19The next election is less than two years away, so there's time to turn it around.

03:23But it will require swift action.

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