Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' third consecutive election win final evening is indicative of a broader malaise gripping the Liberal celebration nationwide.
As 9News political editor Charles Croucher identified on Right now, the Liberal celebration was the one contestant to come back away with what amounted to a loss.
Labor is on observe to kind a majority authorities, however with fewer seats than the earlier time period.
Each the Greens and the Nationals are celebrating an elevated illustration within the state parliament, whereas the Teal independents may additionally decide up a seat.
"Successfully this implies it has been a nasty evening for under the Liberal celebration," Croucher mentioned.
He mentioned it was a part of a persistent drawback the celebration confronted across the nation.
"Three losses in a row for the Liberal celebration (in Victoria), three losses in a row for the Liberal Get together in Queensland. The wipeout in Western Australia, the loss at federal degree, loss in South Australia," Croucher mentioned.
"There's a model Liberal drawback shifting ahead. That's one thing that can take lots of people to resolve and there's no easy reply for it."
He mentioned it was unlikely Victorian Liberal chief Matthew Man might keep on after having misplaced two consecutive elections.
Victorians go to to the polls
Though at all times favoured to win, Andrews had confronted narrowing opinion polls within the lead-up to the vote, along with his authorities going through ongoing corruption investigations, in addition to criticism over his response to COVID-19, which noticed Melbourne at one level change into essentially the most locked-down metropolis on the earth.
Counting is constant in a number of seats.