One Of Vic’s Fastest-Growing Minor Parties Is The Victorian Socialists, So Who Are They?
The Victorian Socialists is one of Victoria’s biggest and fastest-growing minor parties coming into next week’s state election. It also has some of the state’s youngest candidates and volunteers who have been campaigning and promoting an anti-capitalist, pro-community message. But is it just their policies that are behind their rise?
The party was formed in 2018 ahead of the previous state election by an alliance of socialist groups including the Socialist Alternative (you may have seen them handing out flyers at uni).
Hundreds of volunteers knocked on 90,000 doors during the 2018 election campaign and the party picked up about 4 per cent of the vote in the northern metro seat — higher than many other established minor parties.
This year they’ve doubled in size. More than 1000 volunteers have knocked on 165,000 doors and counting to promote the Victorian Socialists’ 22 lower house candidates and 16 upper house candidates.
“We narrowly missed out on winning the northern metro seats in 2018 but it was a really strong showing for a socialist party,” Victorian Socialist assistant secretary and western metro lead candidate Liz Walsh
