Labor has claimed victory in the formerly safe Liberal seat of Hawthorn, defeating Liberal leadership aspirant John Pesutto.

Key points:
  • Sam Hibbins has retained the seat of Prahran, which he first won in 2014.
  • The Liberal candidate, Katie Allen, won the most first-preference votes but was overtaken on preferences
  • Independent Ali Cupper has won the formerly safe Nationals seat of Mildura

Mr Pesutto first learned he was in trouble in his seat in Melbourne’s inner east on live television as he appeared on ABC TV’s election night broadcast.

The seat has not been held by Labor since 1955, and the Shadow Attorney-General went into the campaign with an 8. 6 per cent margin.

But at 5:00pm on Tuesday, Labor candidate John Kennedy was 173 votes in front of Mr Pesutto.

Mr Kennedy took to Twitter to claim victory and thank his supporters.

“My promise is to work hard every day to repay the faith put in me,” Mr Kennedy said.

“I wish John Pesutto all the very best for the future,” he said.

Mr Pesutto is yet to concede defeat.He was a frontrunner to take over the Liberal leadership Shadow Treasurer Michael O’Brien is expected to be a candidate when the party elects its new leader on Thursday. Earlier, the Victorian Greens claimed victory in the seat of Prahran, maintaining their hold on three seats in the Lower House.

Greens MP for Prahran Sam Hibbins will join Ellen Sandell and Tim Read  to maintain the Greens’ presence in the Lower House. Mr Hibbins thanked the voters of Prahran for giving him the privilege of a second parliamentary term, and applauded his fellow candidates for running strong campaigns.

“The Greens stood on a positive, progressive platform of better public transport, affordable housing, clean energy and protecting our environment,” Mr Hibbins posted on Facebook.

Source:https://www.abc.net.au/news/