An upbeat Mr Hibbins thanked his voters, and said his win was the result of listening to their concerns. The Liberals' Clem Newton-Brown. Credit:Eddie Jim He said the Greens had run a powerful grassroots campaign in the inner-city seat, doorknocking 20,000 homes. "It's a historic result for the Greens, It's the first time we have defeated the Liberals in a lower house seat in Australia," he said. Greens officials were confident on Tuesday evening after a dramatic rise in contention after Mr Hibbins overtook Labor's Neil Pharaoh after preferences were distributed on Tuesday afternoon.

But Mr Pharaoh said the seat was still too close to call and was not prepared to concede defeat. Neil Pharaoh, Labor candidate for Prahran. Credit:Penny Stephens "It's definitely been an interesting ride and it's not over yet," he said late on Tuesday. "I wouldn't be calling it if the situation was reversed." Mr Newton-Brown congratulated Mr Hibbins and said it had been an honour and privilege to serve Prahran over the past four years. Mr Hibbins' victory brings the number of Greens in the lower house to two, after Ellen Sandell won over Labor's Jennifer Kanis in the seat of Melbourne. In the upper house, the Greens held three seats and appear to have won two more.

Mr Hibbins said integrity and trust, public transport and the environment were key issues in the seat. "People were annoyed about the performance of the Napthine government. They took us backwards when it came to the environment," he said. He said the Greens managed to win over many young voters in the seat who were not aligned to any one party. Many Liberal supporters also threw their support behind him. Mr Hibbins vowed to put the community first as the MP for Prahran. "I want to make sure the secondary school for Prahran is delivered. I also want to address discrimination against the LGBTI community and make sure our legislation fully removes any discrimination based on sexuality."

Mr Hibbins said he was celebrating at a bar on St Kilda Road with a glass of mineral water in his hand in anticipation of a busy day of interviews on Wednesday. Mr Pharaoh requested a recount of votes on Monday, and said there were a large number of anomalies in the process. But the VEC has announced a recount will begin on Wednesday at 10am, at the request of its election manager. "This is because it was such a close result that it is in the best interests of accuracy," VEC spokeswoman Mary Sammut said. "This was determined by the election manager after consulting with the electoral commissioner."

Ms Sammut could not say how long the recount was expected to take. Mr Newton-Brown listed expunging historical gay sex convictions, sexting laws to protect children, securing funding for a new Prahran high school and new laws in relation to the rights of donor conceived children as some of his biggest achievements. "I hope Sam as the local member and the new Andrews government will deliver on the new Prahran secondary school which the community so strongly supports at the College for the Deaf site on St Kilda Road," he said. Mr Newton-Brown said he knew it was going to be a tough battle and inner-city issues were different to those in outer suburbs and regional areas. "Prahran is a very unusual seat, it's the smallest seat in the state but probably also the most diverse," he said.

Former Greens leader Bob Brown tweeted on Tuesday night that Mr Hibbins' victory paved the way for marriage equality. Prahran has been the closest seat in counting following Labor's election victory, with Mr Newton-Brown leading Mr Pharaoh by fewer than 100 votes. Mr Newton-Brown held a lead of 41 votes on Monday, and the VEC spent Tuesday redistributing preferences. Before the election, Mr Newton-Brown held Prahran with a margin of 4.7 per cent.