Legalise Cannabis Victoria (LCV) has two MPs after it bagged a pair of upper house seats in the state elections.
With the results now confirmed, Rachel Payne has been elected in South-Eastern Metropolitan along with David Ettershank in Western Metropolitan.
The party narrowly missed out on a third seat, with Andrew Dowling just coming up short in Western Victoria.
The result means LCV will form part of a progressive crossbench which Labor leader Daniel Andrews will have to negotiate with to pass legislation contested by the Liberal/National coalition.
The 40-seat Legislative Council will be made up of 15 Labor MPs, 14 Liberals, four Greens, Payne and Ettershank from LCV, and single representatives from the Democratic Labour Party, One Nation, the Liberal Democrats, the Animal Justice Party (AJP) and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party.
If the coalition opposes any government legislation, Labor will need to win the support of six crossbenchers to pass its program.
Payne said changes to the state’s drug-driving laws were a priority while Ettershank said the election of two Legalise Cannabis MPs was an indication that views on recreational legalisation were changing.
“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 voiced their support for legalisation, while Liberal MP Bev McArthur has said she was “always open to new ideas”.
However, in a blow for progressives, it has been confirmed that Reason Party leader Fiona Patten has lost her Northern Metropolitan seat to the socially conservative Democratic Labour Party’s Adem Somyurek.