Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.<\/p>\n
Thousands of voters in Melbourne\u2019s north-east will determine the next member for Warrandyte on Saturday following the resignation of Liberal member Ryan Smith after 16 years in parliament.<\/p>\n
The by-election had been cast as a test for Opposition Leader John Pesutto, however the Liberal Party candidate Nicole Werner is expected to retain the seat.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Opposition Leader John Pesutto with Nicole Werner, the Liberal candidate for Warrandyte.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AAP<\/cite><\/p>\n Labor decided not to contest the byelection, clearing the path for the Liberals. The party won with a 4.3 per cent margin after attracting a strong 47.3 per cent of the primary vote at the last election.<\/p>\n At the Ringwood North Primary School voting centre on Saturday morning, Pesutto said it had been a tough campaign with 12 candidates in the running.<\/p>\n \u201cNicole has worked so hard. She\u2019s knocked on doors, she\u2019s phone canvassed, she\u2019s held listening posts, she\u2019s connected with the community she grew up in,\u201d Pesutto said. \u201cWe\u2019re fighting right up until 6pm tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve taken nothing for granted in this by-election.\u201d<\/p>\n Vote counting will begin when polls close at 6pm on Saturday.<\/p>\n Tomas Lightbody is contesting for the Greens, the major challenger to the Liberals in the absence of a Labor candidate.<\/p>\n Lightbody, 25 and a Manningham councillor, has nominated cost of living as the key issue governments needed to address, with the minor party\u2019s pushing for the introduction of a rent freeze.<\/p>\n Tomas Lightbody, the Greens candidate for Warrandyte.<\/span><\/p>\n Werner, 32, the daughter of Chinese-Malaysian migrants, would become the first female MP from an Asian background to represent the Liberal Party in state parliament if successful on Saturday.<\/p>\n The former youth pastor, charity worker and Liberal staffer won preselection in a hard fought race in June against eight rivals.<\/p>\n She previously contested Box Hill at the November state election, a must-win for the Liberals to form government, but suffered an 8.9 per cent drop in the primary vote and failed to take the seat.<\/p>\n Smith announced he would quit state parliament in May, citing a \u201cgrowing negative tone of politics\u201d. The by-election was triggered when he formally stood down in July.<\/p>\n Almost 20,000 people \u2013 about 40 per cent of the nearly 51,000 enrolled voters \u2013 have already cast early ballots.<\/p>\n Our Breaking News Alert <\/i><\/b>will <\/i><\/b>notify you<\/i><\/b> of significant breaking news when it happens. <\/i><\/b>Get it here<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Most Viewed in Politics<\/h2>\n
From our partners<\/h3>\n