Government candidate wins Australia by-election amid cost-of-living squeeze

FILE PHOTO: A view of Brighton Beach in front of the Melbourne skyline during sunset in Melbourne, Australia, July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A candidate from Australia's government claimed victory late on Saturday in a by-election in Victoria state seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's handling of cost-of-living pressures across the country.

Candidate Jodie Belyea of the centre-left Labor Party defeated Nathan Conroy of the conservative Liberal party in the by-election in the electorate of Dunkley, in Victoria's capital Melbourne, sparked by the death of the sitting Labor member.