By-election shaping up as close contest
By state political reporter Alison Savage


The candidates in Saturday's by-election in the state seat of Melbourne are gearing up for the last full day of the campaign.   

There are 16 candidates contesting the by-election, but it is essentially a two-horse race between Labor and the Greens.

Labor leader Daniel Andrews says voters in Melbourne should vote for Jennifer Kanis because the Greens will not defeat Ted Baillieu.

"The lily-white purity we see from the Greens is ultimately impotent and delivers nothing," he said.

"The people of Melbourne, they have an opportunity not just to elect a good member for Melbourne, but to elect someone who can work well beyond the boundaries of Melbourne, supporting good causes, good issues, making this state fairer.

"I think that will be on people's minds when they vote."

Ms Kanis has dismissed speculation the party's federal woes are hurting her campaign.

She says the vote will be tight, but it is being played out on state issues.

"People in Victoria are very upset about the TAFE cuts," she told ABC News Breakfast.   

"They're very upset about the lack of a jobs plan in Victoria and they're quite frankly you know disappointed in the performance of the Baillieu Government.   

"People haven't really been talking to me much about federal issues."

But Greens spokesman Greg Barber says Labor has run a negative campaign and voters in Melbourne are sick of the major parties.       

"The voters can only decide based on the policies put forward by the candidates," he said.

"We've launched 10 policies so far and Labor has launched none and the voters will have to decide what to make of that."   

Catholic education officials distributed a letter to homes in the state seat of Melbourne, claiming the Greens want to wind back funding for non-government schools.

Ms Oke says they do not know how much damage a letterbox drop has done to her campaign but the claims are completely untrue.

"We don't know how damaging it is but it is incredibly misleading and incredibly disappointing that that letter has been sent out," she said.

"The Greens party fully support the Gonski review and the recommendations and that $5 billion is essential for all schools."

If the Green's win, Ms Oke will become the party's first representative in the lower house, in a seat held by Labor for more than a century.