Greens choose environmental engineer for Prahran byelection showdown

An environmental engineer originally picked to run in the now-abolished federal seat of Higgins has been chosen as the Victorian Greens’ candidate in the state seat of Prahran.

The party has announced Angelica Di Camillo will run for the Greens in the coming byelection, which was triggered by the resignation of Greens MP Sam Hibbins, who admitted to a relationship with a staffer.

“As a young person living in St Kilda East, I know our community is struggling,” Di Camillo said. “Rent keeps going up, young people have given up on the dream of ever owning a home and they’re worried about the climate.”

Working as an environmental engineer, Di Camillo was picked by the party to run in Higgins at the next federal election, but the Australian Electoral Commission abolished the electorate in a redistribution.

Di Camillo said the stakes were high in Prahran, as Labor’s decision not to field a candidate effectively made the poll a contest between the Greens and the Liberal Party.

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“Prahran is a progressive community, and we deserve a progressive voice in parliament who fights to cap and freeze rents, affordable housing, a clean and safe climate for future generations, and to take on the big supermarkets’ price gouging,” she said.

“Every vote here in Prahran is powerful, and to make sure we have a candidate that actually represents us. To keep the Liberals out, we have to vote Green.”

Hibbins held the seat by a 12 per cent margin after preferences, but the Prahran campaign will be closely watched because the Greens, Labor and the Liberals have all held the seat at times over the past two decades. At the last state election, the three parties all received at least a quarter of the primary vote.