The 2025 Prahran state by-election was held on 8 February 2025 to elect the member for

Prahran Prahran ( , also colloquially or ), is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a population ...

in the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

, following the resignation of incumbent MP

Sam Hibbins Samuel Peter Hibbins (born 18 February 1982) is an Australian politician who served as the member for Prahran in the Victorian Legislative Assembly between 2014 and 2024. He served as the co-deputy leader of the Victorian Greens from April 2024 ...

, who had held the seat for the

Victorian Greens The Victorian Greens, officially known as the Australian Greens Victoria, is the Victoria (state), Victorian state member party of the Australian Greens, a Green politics, green political party in Australia. History Early years The Australian ...

since the 2014 election. The poll took place on the same day as a by-election for Werribee. Hibbins resigned from the Greens on 1 November 2024, after it emerged that he had engaged in an

extramarital affair An affair is a relationship typically between two people, one or both of whom are either married or in a long-term monogamous or emotionally-exclusive relationship with someone else. The affair can be solely sexual, solely physical or solely em ...

with a staff member from his office, which he described as a "human mistake". He moved to the

crossbench A crossbencher is a minor party or independent politician, independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. ...

and sat as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

until delivering his resignation as a member of parliament on 23 November 2024. The by-election was won by Liberal candidate Rachel Westaway with a

two-candidate-preferred vote In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP), is the result of an opinion poll or a projection of an election result where preferences are distributed to one of the two major parties, the Labor Party and the Liberal/Natio ...

swing of 13.6% against the Greens. Greens leader Ellen Sandell conceded defeat the day after the by-election, blaming the loss on preference flows and the by-election's timing.

Background

Seat details

Prahran is an electoral district in the inner-southern suburbs of Melbourne, encompassing the suburbs of

South Yarra South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Stonnington local government areas. South Yarra recorded a populati ...

, Windsor, parts of St Kilda and St Kilda East. The seat has existed since 1889 and has experienced notable political shifts over the years. In 1951, the seat saw a by-election which was won by the

Victorian Labor Party The Victorian Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch) and commonly referred to simply as Victorian Labor, is the Victorian state branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The party forms the incumbent go ...

. Historically, the electorate has alternated between the Labor and Liberal parties. However, in 2014, the Greens made a significant breakthrough when Sam Hibbins won the seat, despite finishing third in the primary vote, by securing preferences from the two major parties. Before his resignation, Hibbins would go on to retain the seat for the Greens at the time, narrowly in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and increasing the party's margin in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. Demographically, Prahran is one of Victoria's more affluent electorates. At the time of the

2021 Australian census The 2021 Australian census, simply called the 2021 Census, was the eighteenth national Census of Population and Housing in Australia. The 2021 Census took place on 10 August 2021, and was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). ...

, the seat had a median weekly personal income of $1,330, significantly higher than the state ($803) and national ($805) averages. More than half of residents hold a

bachelor’s degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years (de ...

or higher (53.5%), and the median age of residents (35) is slightly younger than both the state and national rates (38).

Electoral history

2022 election results

Key events

* 23 November 2024 −

resigns * 27 December 2024 − Close of

electoral roll An electoral roll (variously called an electoral register, voters roll, voters list, poll book or other description) is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in a particular jurisdiction. The list is ...

* 29 January 2025 − Early voting begins * 8 February 2025 − Polling day

Candidates

Candidates are listed in the order they appeared on the ballot.

Greens

On 2 December 2024, the

announced their candidate as environmental engineer Angelica Di Camillo. Di Camillo was the Greens candidate at the 2023 Aston by-election, and was also preselected by the party to contest the electorate of Higgins at the 2025 federal election prior to the seat's abolition.

Liberal

Victorian Liberal Party The Victorian Liberal Party, officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division), and branded as Liberal Victoria, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in Victoria. It was formed in 1949 as the Liberal a ...

leader

John Pesutto John Pesutto (; born 5 September 1970) is an Australian politician and lawyer who has served as the member for Electoral district of Hawthorn, Hawthorn in the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2022 Victorian state election, 2022, having prev ...

announced on 25 November 2024 that the party would contest Prahran, having last held the seat with Clem Newton-Brown from 2010 to 2014. Rachel Westaway, a member of the

Administrative Appeals Tribunal The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was an Australian tribunal that conducted independent merits review of administrative decisions made under Commonwealth laws of the Australian Government. The AAT reviewed decisions made by Australian G ...

and previously an unsuccessful Liberal candidate for the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

at the 2003 state election, was preselected as the party's candidate on 15 December 2024.

Labor

On 27 November 2024, state premier and

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

leader

Jacinta Allan Jacinta Marie Allan (born 19 September 1973) is an Australian politician serving as the 49th and current premier of Victoria since 2023. She has been the leader of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since 2023 and has been ...

announced that the party would not field a candidate at the by-election. The party last held Prahran from 2002 to 2010 with

Tony Lupton Anthony Gerard "Tony" Lupton (born 10 January 1957) is an Australian former politician. He served as the member for Prahran in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 2002 to 2010, representing the Labor Party. Early life Lupton was born in M ...

and was narrowly defeated by Hibbins at the

2014 Victorian state election The 2014 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 29 November 2014, was for the 58th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and 40 seats in the Victorian Legislative Council were up for election. The incum ...

. This was the first election in Prahran history, not to have a Labor candidate running. However, Lupton himself recontested the seat as an independent, citing community support for his candidacy.

How-to-vote cards

Candidates can provide how-to-vote cards with recommendations for voters on how to

preference In psychology, economics and philosophy, preference is a technical term usually used in relation to choosing between alternatives. For example, someone prefers A over B if they would rather choose A than B. Preferences are central to decision the ...

other parties. Nathan Chisholm, Alan Menadue and the

Sustainable Australia Party The Sustainable Australia Party (SAP), officially registered as Sustainable Australia Party – Universal Basic Income, is an Australian political party that was formed in 2010. History The party has been registered federally since 2010. It was ...

did not recommend any preferences. Additionally,

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

lobby group Advance registered a how-to-vote card, calling for Greens candidate Angelica Di Camillo to be preferenced last.

Results

References

External links

Prahran District by-election
at

Victorian Electoral Commission The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC), formerly the State Electoral Office, is the statutory body responsible for the running of state, municipal and various non-government elections in Victoria, Australia. Independence It is an independen ...

Prahran by-election 2025
at ABC News {{DEFAULTSORT:Prahran by-election, 2025 2025 elections in Australia 2025Prahran 2025 in Victoria (state)