In a historic loss for the ALP, Lidia Thorpe has won the inner city seat of Northcote for the Greens, taking their lower house members of parliament to three. The ALP had held the seat for 90 years, but there has been an ongoing process of gentrification and swings to the Greens in inner city suburbs in the large cities. State ALP figures are seriously concerned they could be forced into a coalition or minority government at the next election.
The left have generally been inspired by her victory as Lidia has a strong record of activism around environmental and indigenous issues. She becomes the first indigenous woman member of the Victorian State parliament in its 161 year history, which highlights the entrenched racism that has been directed toward indigenous peoples
