The Greens' Lidia Thorpe has become the first Aboriginal woman elected to Victorian parliament after winning the Northcote by-election.
The party claimed victory over Labor about three hours after polls closed in the inner-north Melbourne seat on Saturday night, despite political pundits predicting a narrow victory for Labor's Clare Burns.
"I am proud to be the first Aboriginal woman to take a seat in the Victorian Parliament. This will send a strong message to every kid out there who's dreaming big, that anything is possible," Ms Thorpe said.
The by-election was promoted by Labor MP's Fiona Richardson's sudden death from cancer in August.
With almost two thirds of the vote counted, the Greens have almost 55 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.
Labor poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into Saturday's by-election, focussing on housing affordability and rental reform.
But the Greens have been eating away at the government's inner-Melbourne territory for years, winning the seat of Melbourne in 2014 and turning many Northcote booths green at the 216 federal election.
The Liberal party did not contest the by-election, which Labor sources said was partly to blame for their defeat, alongside a lower voter turnout and changing demographics.
