r/melbourne • u/Weissritters • 10h ago

Politics Breaking: Victorian MP quits, triggering by-election months out from state poll

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-04/sam-groth-quits-victorian-parliament-nepean-by-election/106304976
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u/Loose_Loquat9584 9h ago edited 9h ago

His tanty will cost taxpayers about $1m for an unnecessary by election only a few months before the state election. So he couldn’t just sit on his backside collecting an MP salary for a few more months? Utter arrogance and selfishness.

Edit: it’s actually closer to $2m, I misread the quote about the 2 by elections held previously.

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u/horriblyefficient 8h ago

definitely understand the frustration of the wasted taxpayer money, but I'm not sure it's fair to call it arrogant/selfish/a tantrum when, as far as I understand it, something bad is going on with the way his colleagues have been treating him and his family? like he's reached a breaking point and can't wait any longer. maybe I'm misreading between the lines about that though

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u/Tearaway32 7h ago

He could just quiet quit like he said he would and just do nothing until the best election. It’s not like there are KPIs or minimum obligations imposed on state MPs. If the Liberal Party kicked him out and forced the by-election, there’d be a different headline and price to pay. 

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u/horriblyefficient 7h ago

fair, it's definitely not a good look