Wilson faces fresh teal threat as voters abandon major parties

Victorian Liberal leader Jess Wilson will face a fresh challenge in her seat of Kew from former Boroondara mayor Sophie Torney.

The campaign, organised by the Kew Independents group, has selected Torney eight months from polling day, hoping the extra time on the ground will produce a better result for the councillor who finished third in the seat at the 2022 state election with 21 per cent of the vote.

Torney said independent campaigns “build over time”, citing attempts to win the federal seats of Kooyong, Wentworth and Bradfield, where it took several efforts to topple the major parties.

“Last time we had three months, but this time … we’ve got more time to build that momentum,” she said.

“I think I got 21 per cent of the vote in 12 weeks [last time]. So there is a real appetite in this community for an independent voice.”

The Kew Independents group follows the now-familiar “Voices of” model, in which locally organised volunteers position themselves as community-backed alternatives to the major parties.

While these campaigns emphasise grassroots support, several have also drawn financial backing from Climate 200, the fundraising network that has successfully backed the wave of so-called teal independents at the federal level.

Climate 200 backed several unsuccessful campaigns at the 2022 state election. In neighbouring Hawthorn, Melissa Lowe polled 20 per cent of the vote and finished third, while Nomi Kaltmann attracted just 6.5 per cent of the vote in Caulfield.

Since her last campaign, Torney has raised her profile by serving as mayor of Boroondara. She said that “almost daily” since the 2022 election she had been asked whether she would stand again.

“Running and winning an election as a local councillor and serving in local government … has given me a deeper understanding of how state decisions affect local communities,” she said.

Critics within the Liberal Party have long argued the “Voices of” campaigns operate less like independent movements and more like a loosely co-ordinated effort aimed at unseating Liberal MPs.

But Torney believes there is a broad dissatisfaction with the major parties that she can harness.

“Politics should be about delivering for communities, and I don’t think the major parties remember that,” she said.

Wilson holds the seat of Kew by a margin of about 4 per cent but political strategists, speaking on background to discuss internal polling, believe her support locally has probably improved since she became the Liberal leader in November.

But a high-stakes contest to retain her seat could still prove a distraction for the first-term MP.

Torney said the selection of a Millennial woman as the Liberal leader did not minimise one of the original appeals of the teal movement – its focus on the treatment of women in politics.

“When a party is on its third leader in a term… the biggest story is the state of the Liberal Party itself,” she said.

Resolve Political Monitor polling published in February suggested a volatile electorate, with 42 per cent of voters backing a minor party or independent. Support for Labor is at 28 per cent, while the Coalition has fallen to 30 per cent.

Following the release of that polling, Wilson said it was evident Victorians were looking for change.

“The only way to change the government in this state is to vote for the Liberal and National parties,” she said at the time.

If elected, Torney, a mother of three who has lived in Kew for more than 25 years, said she would be prepared to work with either major party in the event of a hung parliament.

Resolve director Jim Reed said that while major parties were on the nose with voters, the conditions that fuelled the teal success federally were weaker at a state level.

“Many of the conditions favourable to Teals in past years are not there now, such as a voter focus on climate change,” Reed said.

“They have always done better federally for a variety of issue, including funding reasons”

Housing is expected to be a central issue in the seat, particularly in suburbs such as Kew and Balwyn, where planning changes have sparked community debate. The state government’s activity centre plan would allow increased height limits in selected zones including around Kew Junction.

While yet to develop a full policy agenda, Torney said more housing was needed in Kew, arguing the current policy settings would not solve the problem.

“I hear it from young and old – people don’t have an issue with housing coming to places like Kew and Hawthorn,” she said. “Changing the planning rules isn’t going to fix the problem.”

She said her housing policy would focus on supporting the construction sector and introducing stronger inclusionary zoning targets that incentivised the development of affordable housing.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.