Victorian Labor’s ‘unforgivable’ preferences decision risks Liberal-One Nation government, Greens warn

The Victorian Greens say Labor’s “frankly unforgivable” decision not to preference the minor party in a key inner-city seat could hand the upcoming election to a Liberal-One Nation coalition.The party’s leader, Ellen Sandell, lambasted Labor’s decision on Tuesday to run an open ticket in Prahran, an inner Melbourne seat currently held by the Liberals’ Rachel Westaway on a tiny 1.3% margin.It means Labor’s how-to-vote material will encourage voters to place their candidate, Meghan Hopper, first on the ballot but will not direct them how to allocate their remaining preferences. Instead, the remaining boxes on its how-to-vote material will probably remain blank.Labor preferences are key to the Greens cinching back the seat, which they lost in a 2025 byelection.Sign up for the Breaking News Australia emailThe Greens received a 13.4% swing at the poll, with the result influenced by several factors, including Labor’s decision not to field a candidate, low voter turnout, a well-resourced campaign urging voters to put them last and unfavourable preference flows from other candidates.

This included the former Labor MP Tony Lupton, who contested the byelection as an independent.Sandell told Guardian Australia Labor was “showing its true colours” by running an open ticket, as it could inadvertently help the Liberals and One Nation not only secure the seat but also government.“After months of scaremongering about a Liberal-One Nation government, Labor is now using its preferences to help elect one,” she said.“This could be one of the most consequential elections in the state’s history. The result may come down to a single seat, and a divisive party like One Nation could hold the balance of power.“It is frankly unforgivable that Labor would do a dodgy back-room deal to help elect a Liberal-One Nation government – and it’s something that Victorian voters will not easily forget.”Sandell said Labor voters would be also “shocked” to see the party refusing to preference a “local, progressive Greens woman in Prahran”, Angelica Di Camillo, who also ran at the byelection.Labor is also running an open ticket in the neighbouring seat of Caulfield, held by the Liberals’ David Southwick on a 2.1% margin.

But it is expected Southwick will see a swing in his favour and comfortably retain the seat.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionIt is understood the local campaigns in Prahran and Caulfield requested the open ticket arrangement, which is consistent with the position Labor took at the 2025 federal election in the overlapping seat of Macnamara, held by Josh Burns, amid the height of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.A Labor spokesperson said: “Our message is simple: put a 1 next to Labor candidates everywhere. We’re fighting for majority government.”Caulfield is home to Victoria’s largest Jewish community, which also extends into St Kilda East in the Prahran electorate.On Tuesday, the Liberals and Nationals also confirmed they would exchange preferences with One Nation, with the opposition leader, Jess Wilson, telling reporters how-to-vote cards for Coalition candidates would instruct voters to put Labor, the Greens and the Victorian Socialists “at the bottom of the ticket, and all other parties above that”.Just hours after Wilson confirmed the position, One Nation moved to disendorse its Preston candidate, Franco Guardiani, over tweets, including one that described Hitler as the “GOAT”, an acronym which stands for greatest of all time.The Victorian Liberal Senator Jane Hume told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing Guardiani’s tweets were “vile” and confirmed he would be last on the party’s how-to-vote material in the electorate.