Policy
INTEGRITY, FAIRNESS AND ACTION FOR WESTERN VICTORIA
A Campaign Platform for Our Community
Western Victoria is one of the most diverse regions in our state. From the growing communities of Geelong, Ballarat and Melton, to the coastal towns of Warrnambool, Portland and Apollo Bay, to the farming districts and regional centres of Horsham, Hamilton, Ararat, Colac, Stawell, Camperdown and beyond, our communities are proud, resilient and full of potential. Yet too often decisions are made without us, resources are concentrated elsewhere, and communities are left fighting for their fair share.
I believe politics should start with the community. Good policy is built by listening to people, following the evidence, respecting human rights and ensuring that public money delivers real value for the public good. This platform is founded on integrity, honesty and fairness. It is about ensuring every community, whether in a major regional city, a coastal town or a small rural community, has access to quality healthcare, great public schools, affordable housing, reliable infrastructure and genuine opportunities to thrive. Together, we can build a stronger, fairer Western Victoria where every community has a voice and no one is left behind.
PLATFORM AT A GLANCE
Here is what I will fight for if elected. Every commitment below is backed by evidence and detailed in the sections that follow.
Make Housing Affordable
- A major increase in public, social and affordable housing — housing as infrastructure, not commodity
- Victorian Housing Pattern Book: pre-approved designs with fast-track 10-day approval
- Key worker housing; stronger renters' rights; short-term rental register calibrated to local wages
- Moratorium on foreign ownership of housing by non-resident/non-citizens.
- Fast-tracking 100% affordable developments
- Expansion of ready to go modular and prefabricated housing
- A Comprehensive Regional Housing Plan integrating housing with transport, schools, childcare, health and jobs
- An audit of surplus government land for housing near town centres
- Extending Victoria's stamp duty-to-land tax transition to residential properties, with a pilot for first home buyers and social housing
- Density done right — medium-density housing near town centres and transport hubs, with improved public transport delivered at the same time.
- An inquiry into barriers facing Australian builders and tradies
Reduce Cost of Living Pressures
- Stronger regional fuel competition;
- Supermarket price transparency, divestiture powers and fairer treatment of regional suppliers
- Action on energy bills, insurance gouging and transport costs hitting regional families hardest
- Better public services — cheaper childcare, schools, dental, health — as genuine cost-of-living relief
Deliver Great Public Schools
- Full funding of all Victorian public schools now, not in 2034.
- Independent and proportional representation for public school students, parents and communities on education boards, advisory groups and decision-making bodies.
- Support for public school advocacy and representative groups.
- A state action plan to address bullying, school refusal, student mental health and disability discrimination.
- Common reporting standards for all schools and education representative bodies receiving public funding or public benefits, enabling transparent like-for-like comparisons of funding, income, outcomes and performance.
- Inquiry into the relationship between education and inequality of opportunity in Victoria.
- Greater transparency in school funding, performance and educational outcomes so parents and communities can make informed decisions.
- Stronger TAFE pathways, apprenticeships and vocational education opportunities linked to local industry needs.
- Increased investment in regional TAFE campuses, skills training and workforce development to support regional communities and economies.
- Public review of representation of underserved students at Victorian universities.
Improve Access to Health Care for Regional Victorians
- A stronger regional health workforce pipeline, including incentives to attract and retain GPs in regional and rural Victoria.
- Expanded bulk-billing access and affordable primary healthcare across regional Victoria.
- Full implementation of the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System, with accelerated delivery in regional communities.
- Reduced public dental waiting times and increased access to affordable dental care.
- A Victorian aged care quality and safety inspectorate, a workforce strategy to address shortages, and stronger protections for residents in publicly funded facilities.
- Expanded nurse practitioner and advanced practice roles to improve access to healthcare in regional and rural areas.
- Mobile mental health outreach teams to deliver services closer to where people live.
- Better transport assistance and accommodation support for people travelling to access specialist healthcare, alongside expanded telehealth and virtual care options.
- Increased investment in regional hospitals, community health services and preventative healthcare.
Fix the Childcare Crisis
- End childcare deserts in regional Victoria, so that people can work
- Scrutiny of for-profit childcare providers
- A regional childcare workforce plan with TAFE pathways and incentives
- Flexible care options; stronger safety rules; better educator pay and conditions
Build a Cleaner Energy Future
- No new coal or gas projects and a planned phase-out of fossil fuel production.
- End fossil fuel subsidies and increase taxes and royalties on coal and gas producers.
- Require the gas industry to pay a fair return to Australians
- Expand renewable energy rather than relying on new gas developments.
- Stronger regulation of gas exports
- Stronger building standards for climate resilience for new development in at-risk areas
Safeguard the Great Ocean Road and Victoria’s coastal areas
- Update the 15-year-old Victorian Coastal Inundation Dataset urgently
- No new gas investments
- Climate refuges for kelp forests;
- Integrated environmental monitoring with Traditional Owner partnership
- Public environmental scorecards
- Long-term implementation guidance for estuary mouth opening management
- Restoring saltmarshes, seagrass beds and coastal vegetation
- An invasive species control program
- Supporting reintroduction of small digging mammals into predator-free safe havens in the Otways
- Incorporating small mammal refuge sites into fuel reduction burn plans
- A portion of tourism revenue reinvested directly into Great Ocean Road maintenance
Manage the Data Centre Boom
- Mandatory environmental, social and water security assessments for all major data centres, applying the precautionary principle.
- Public reporting of water and energy consumption by large data centres.
- Mandatory use of recycled water for cooling wherever feasible, protecting drinking water supplies.
- Planning controls to prevent data centres placing excessive pressure on local water and electricity infrastructure.
- Cumulative impact assessments for major digital infrastructure developments.
- Measures to protect households and businesses from energy price increases linked to data centre growth.
- A clear pathway to 100% renewable energy for large data centres.
- Water security certification before planning approvals are granted.
- Local jobs, local procurement and community benefit requirements for major developments.
- Strong noise, pollution and environmental standards for data centre operations.
Protect Nature for Future Generations
- Stronger protection for native forests, grasslands, wetlands and 2,000+ threatened species
- Full action plans for all 2,000+ threatened species (currently only 100 completed)
- Fairer water access with transparent water markets and a cap on speculative trading
- Climate-resilient water infrastructure for towns facing drought risk
- A new Animal Care and Protection Act closing industry loopholes
- Protecting environmental flows in the Murray-Darling and Victorian rivers
- Fairer water markets; PFAS monitoring; climate-resilient water infrastructure
Create Safer Communities
- Whole-of-government approach: prevention and early intervention, including greater mental health investments.
- Community outreach workers and youth crime diversion programs
End Violence Against Women and children
- Major scale-up in family violence services — dedicated regional funding
- Stronger crisis accommodation and housing pathways for victim-survivors
- Stronger laws against online abuse, deepfakes and technology-facilitated violence
- Stronger legal protections and justice reforms for survivors of child abuse, sexual assault and gender-based violence.
Save Lives Through Suicide Prevention
- Full regional implementation of Victoria's 2024-34 Suicide Prevention Strategy
- A dedicated Western Victoria regional suicide prevention plan, co-designed with communities
- Mobile crisis support; targeted programs vulnerable groups, such as farmers.
- Addressing the structural drivers: housing, debt, drought, isolation, service loss
- Grief and bereavement support for communities and families, including community-level responses to clusters of deaths
Clean Up Politics, Address Corruption and Restore Trust
- Full implementation of Operation Watts reforms, including an independent Parliamentary Integrity Commissioner.
- Stronger powers and resources for independent anti-corruption bodies to investigate misconduct, corruption and abuses of public office.
- Criminal penalties for MPs who deliberately conceal conflicts of interest, including mandatory forfeiture of any benefits obtained.
- Stronger regulation of lobbying, including real-time disclosure of lobbying activities.
- A constitutionally sound political donations framework that reduces undue influence in politics.
- Mandatory blacklisting periods for consulting firms found to have breached integrity laws.
- Stronger Freedom of Information laws, enforcement and a shift towards proactive public disclosure.
- Greater protections for whistleblowers who expose wrongdoing in the public interest.
- A genuinely independent Parliamentary Ethics Committee with cross-party membership.
- A ban on MPs employing close family members in electorate offices.
- A public interest test for ministerial decisions involving political donors or vested interests.
- Stronger revolving-door restrictions on former ministers and senior public officials.
- Citizens' assemblies and community panels to guide major policy and regional development decisions.
- Anti-SLAPP laws to protect journalists, advocates and community members from legal intimidation. Similar review of defamation laws used to silence or impede justice.
Stand Up to Corporate Power, Gambling and Lobby groups
- Stronger gambling reform; harm minimisation; limits on advertising
- Supermarket competition, divestiture powers and action on price gouging
- Minimum customer service standards; the right to speak to a human, maximum wait times.
- Larger penalties for corporations that break the law, undertaken human rights or green washing.
PROTECT HUMAN RIGHTS Defend Human Rights and Freedoms
- Stronger whistleblower protections, including legal, financial and workplace protections for people who expose wrongdoing in the public interest.
- Stronger legal protections, support services and access to justice for survivors of child abuse, sexual assault and gender-based violence.
- Legal reforms to prevent powerful individuals, corporations and institutions using defamation and other legal processes to silence, intimidate or retraumatise victims and survivors.
- Introduction of Anti-SLAPP legislation to prevent the misuse of courts to silence journalists, whistleblowers, advocates, community organisations and survivors.
- Protection and strengthening of existing human rights, with safeguards against any further rollback of fundamental rights and freedoms.
- Stronger protections for human rights defenders, community advocates, journalists and civil society organisations.
- Protection of the right to peaceful protest and repeal of laws that unnecessarily restrict democratic participation and free expression.
- Press freedom, media freedom and stronger Freedom of Information laws, with a presumption in favour of public disclosure.
- Full enforcement of Victoria's anti-vilification laws and stronger action to prevent hate, discrimination and harassment.
- Safe, inclusive and affirming schools for all students.
- Greater investment in disability-inclusive housing, transport, public infrastructure and community services.
- Expanded social procurement policies that create jobs and opportunities for disadvantaged and underrepresented groups.
- A requirement that all new legislation and major government policies be assessed for their impact on human rights before being introduced.
- Annual public reporting on the state of human rights in Victoria and government compliance with human rights obligations
Ensuring Gender Equality and Protecting
- Stronger action to prevent violence against women and support survivors.
- Protection of reproductive rights, including access to safe and legal abortion.
- Affordable childcare and policies that support women's economic security.
- Action to address online abuse, harassment and gender-based hate.
- Protection for women's rights defenders and advocates facing intimidation, threats and attacks
Invest in the Infrastructure Our Communities Need
- Western Freeway: fully funded, timelined upgrade from Melton to Ballarat and beyond
- Ballarat: hospital funding; Western Rail Plan completion date; station overpass
- Warrnambool: hospital on time and in full; longer trains; Princes Highway road quality
- Horsham, Ararat, Hamilton, Colac: improved funding for highways, hospitals, aged care, fair local government funding
Make Transport Reliable, Affordable and Accessible
- Better and more reliable V/Line services; fairer fares; accessible transport for older and disabled Victorians
Back Small Business and Local Jobs
- Mandatory local preference rules for Victorian SMEs in government procurement contracts
- Stronger work from home provisions for regional workers commuting to Melbourne.
- Statutory trust accounts for subcontractor retention money
- AI literacy programs; agtech support; cybersecurity help for regional businesses
Fight for a Fair Share for Regional Victoria
- Annual Regional Budget Statement showing how state spending is split between city and country
- At least 25% of new state infrastructure spending directed to regional Victoria
- More senior public service jobs moved into regional communities
- Stronger regional decision-making so local communities shape their own future
- Stronger regional infrastructure investment, including the Western Freeway and Ballarat Hospital.
- Better regional roads, hospitals, mental health services, public transport, emergency services and community infrastructure