Legalise Cannabis Victoria (LCV) has secured two upper house seats following the state election, confirming the party's presence in the Legislative Council.
Rachel Payne has won election in South-Eastern Metropolitan, with David Ettershank claiming the Western Metropolitan seat, after final results were confirmed.
The party fell short of a third seat, with Andrew Dowling narrowly missing out in Western Victoria.
LCV will now sit within a progressive crossbench that Labor leader Daniel Andrews must negotiate with whenever legislation faces opposition from the Liberal/National coalition.
The 40-seat Legislative Council will consist of 15 Labor MPs, 14 Liberals, four Greens, Payne and Ettershank from LCV, and one representative each from the Democratic Labour Party, One Nation, the Liberal Democrats, the Animal Justice Party (AJP), and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party.
Should the coalition vote against government legislation, Labor will need the backing of at least six crossbenchers to get its agenda through.
Payne identified reform of the state's drug-driving laws as a top priority, while Ettershank said the double win pointed to a shift in public attitudes toward recreational legalisation.
“We’re looking forward to working with the government on genuine reform and legalisation of cannabis,” he said.
“I think it’s something to be worked through with the government in a logical and sensible way.”
The Greens, Liberal Democrats and AJP have all expressed support for legalisation, and Liberal MP Bev McArthur said she was “always open to new ideas”.
In a setback for progressives, Reason Party leader Fiona Patten has lost her Northern Metropolitan seat to the socially conservative Democratic Labour Party's Adem Somyurek.
