BREAKING NEWS: By-election latest
11.30PM SATURDAY
Vote-counting is neck-and-neck in the by-elections being held in Prahran and Werribee.
In Prahran, the two candidate preferred vote count has Rachel Westaway (Liberal) ahead with 15,406 (51.60 per cent), against Angelica De Camillio on 14,452 (48.40 per cent).
Ms Westaway’s primary vote to date has been 10,829 (36.24 per cent), wiuth Ms De Camillo on 10,813 (36.18 per cent).
In Werribee, there has been an 8 per cent swing against Labor, towards the Liberals. However, preferences may not see Labor wiped out. With 74.9 per cent of the vote counted, Steve Murphy (Liberal) had 8418 votes (47.0 per cent), against John Lister (ALP) on 9481 (53.0 per cent), on a two-party preferred basis.
The primary voting has the Liberals with 11,535, and ALP on 11,357.
Werribee has been in Labor hands since 1979.
Premier Jacinta Allan said her Government needed to do more for working families.
““It’s very, very tight, it’s going down to the wire,” Ms Allan said.
“There’s pre-polls to come, which normally don’t favour the Labor Party,” analyst Antony Green told ABC News.
Counting will resume on Monday (Feb. 10).