Three New Select-Entry Schools and Six Academic Achiever Conversions
Coalition commitment, announced on 20 September 2026 by Opposition Leader Jess Wilson, to establish three new select-entry high schools in Melbourne's outer suburbs by 2030 and convert six existing schools to an academic-achiever focus, which the Coalition says would roughly double the number of selective places. Proposed locations are in the west (Melton, Caroline Springs or Sydenham), the north (Craigieburn or Roxburgh Park) and the south-east (Langwarrin or Cranbourne South). Wilson said thousands of students sit the select-entry exam each year and too many miss out because there are not enough places. Opposition education spokesperson Brad Rowswell said selection must be accessible and not based on postcode. No cost was published with the announcement. Context: Victoria currently has four fully selective secondary schools; the Coalition cited New South Wales, which has 21 fully selective and 26 partially selective schools, as its comparison. Note for voters: no response from the government, the education sector or independent experts was recorded in the reporting of this announcement at the time it was made, so this entry reflects the Coalition's stated position only. Selective schooling is a contested area of education policy: supporters argue it extends opportunity to high-achieving students regardless of family means, while critics argue it can concentrate advantage and draw resources and high-performing students away from neighbourhood schools. VoteWise will add sourced responses as they are published.
$100 Million Albury Hospital Redevelopment Commitment
Coalition commitment, announced on 22 September 2026 by Liberal candidate for Benambra Steve Martin, of an additional $100 million toward the Albury Hospital redevelopment if the Coalition wins the November election. The Coalition says the funding would deliver 50 new beds, a multistorey car park, a full fit-out of the clinical services building, a helipad, a paediatric ward, operating theatres and specialist youth acute mental health beds, plus a health infrastructure feasibility study comparing brownfield and greenfield development sites, and that it would deliver the promised services even if costs exceeded $100 million. Context: existing federal, New South Wales and Victorian government funding for the project totals $558 million. Responses: Opposition Leader Jess Wilson said the commitment would provide quality healthcare alongside a real plan for the future. Stan Stavros, director of Better Border Health, welcomed the immediate delivery of beds but criticised further investment in what he called a compromised site. Wodonga Mayor Michael Gobel welcomed the feasibility study but said additional funding could jeopardise a greenfield business case. Premier Ben Carroll described the announcement as desperate politics and questioned the Coalition's trustworthiness. Albury Hospital serves communities on both sides of the Victoria-New South Wales border, so the project involves funding from both states.
Sexual Violence and Family Violence Sentencing Reforms
Labor commitment, announced on 20 September 2026 by Premier Ben Carroll with Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny, to change sentencing and evidence law if re-elected. The stated package includes a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for rape; a five-year increase to maximum penalties for all serious sexual offences; a standard sentence of 30 years for the murder of a partner, up from 25 years; a new offence criminalising the abandonment of a family violence victim who needs urgent medical care; a new manslaughter offence covering abusers whose conduct drives a partner to take their own life; amendments to the Evidence Act allowing courts to consider an accused person's prior history of sexual abuse; and restrictions on cross-examination techniques the government describes as humiliating and invasive. The government cited the cases of Narelle Simmons (2021) and Belinda Jones (2023), both involving abandonment, as prompting the abandonment offence. No costing was published with the announcement. Response: Opposition Leader Jess Wilson said the reforms had come too late and that family violence incidents had risen 30 per cent over the past decade, which she argued showed the government had not delivered on earlier commitments.
Jack's Law — Random Metal Detector Search Powers
Labor commitment, announced on 16 September 2026 by Premier Ben Carroll, to introduce 'Jack's Law' in Victoria. The law would allow police and protective services officers to use handheld metal detector wands to search people in public places for knives without a warrant and without requiring reasonable suspicion. Equivalent laws already operate in Queensland, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Tasmania. Responses: Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Nerita Waight described it as copycat social policy making for votes and said it would be another costly failed initiative that would see Aboriginal communities unfairly targeted, and that it conflicts with human rights obligations; VALS cited 2024 Racial Profiling Data Monitoring Project findings that Victoria Police search Aboriginal people at 15 times the rate of Caucasian people. Greens justice spokesperson Katherine Copsey said the policy lacks evidence and that young people, First Nations people and communities of colour would bear disproportionate impacts. Supporters of such laws in other states argue they deter knife carrying and allow early intervention before weapons are used.
Health: Wait-List Guarantee and 24/7 Regional Emergency Departments
One Nation Victoria's state health policy, published September 2026. The stated commitments are a statewide elective surgery wait-list guarantee, 24-hour emergency department coverage in regional centres, and redirecting administrative savings from health bureaucracy to frontline services. Independent context: the Australian Medical Association and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation have consistently argued that workforce shortages, not administrative spending, are the binding constraint on both elective surgery throughput and regional emergency department coverage - several regional Victorian EDs have reduced hours because they cannot staff them, not because of funding alone. A wait-list guarantee also requires a defined remedy if the guarantee is not met, which the policy does not specify. Supporters argue administrative growth in health has outpaced clinical growth and that redirecting it is both achievable and overdue. No independent costing has been published. Voters should note the policy's practical test is whether clinicians can be recruited to regional centres, which is a national labour market problem as much as a state budget one.
Cost of Living: Land Tax, Payroll Tax and Insurance Stamp Duty Cuts
One Nation Victoria's state cost-of-living policy, published September 2026. The stated commitments are winding back recent land tax increases, lifting the payroll tax-free threshold, abolishing stamp duty on insurance premiums, and reducing regulatory costs built into new home construction. Independent context: economists broadly agree stamp duty on insurance is inefficient, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's insurance monitoring has noted taxes and levies add materially to premiums - so this element has mainstream support. Land tax and payroll tax are among Victoria's largest own-source revenues, so material cuts require offsetting savings or additional borrowing against net debt projected to reach $199.3 billion by 2029-30. The Grattan Institute favours broad-based land tax over stamp duty, which is in tension with winding land tax back. No independent costing showing how the forgone revenue would be replaced has been published. Supporters argue the current settings suppress housing supply, business investment and employment.
Farming: Irrigator Water Priority and Protecting Farmland from Energy Projects
One Nation Victoria's state farming policy, published September 2026. The stated commitments are prioritising water allocation to irrigating farmers over what the party describes as speculative water holders, protecting agricultural land from large-scale industrial energy projects including wind and transmission infrastructure, and reinstating fisheries officer positions the party says were cut. Independent context: the Productivity Commission has examined water market speculation and found evidence of trading by non-irrigators, though it concluded the effect on prices is contested and recommended improved market transparency rather than restricting participation. On farmland and energy projects, the Australian Energy Market Operator's Integrated System Plan identifies new transmission as necessary to connect renewable generation, and the Victorian Farmers Federation has separately sought stronger landholder compensation and consultation rather than prohibition. Water allocation under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is a Commonwealth-led intergovernmental agreement, limiting what a Victorian parliament can change unilaterally. Supporters argue food production and regional communities carry the costs of both water trading and the energy transition.
Education: Year-by-Year Syllabus, Trade Pathways and School Vouchers
One Nation Victoria's state education policy, published September 2026. The stated commitments are a prescribed year-by-year syllabus covering literacy, numeracy and knowledge, stronger classroom discipline, expanded vocational and trade pathways, and a voucher system under which state funding would follow the student to the school their family chooses. Independent context: the Grattan Institute's research supports explicit instruction in literacy and numeracy and a clearly sequenced curriculum, so that element has an evidence base. School vouchers are more contested: international evidence from the United States and Sweden is mixed, with some studies finding modest gains and others finding increased segregation between schools and declining outcomes for students who remain in under-subscribed schools. The Australian Education Union opposes vouchers on the grounds they divert funding from public schools already below the Schooling Resource Standard. Curriculum content in Victoria is set by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, so a prescribed syllabus would require changing that body's remit. No independent costing has been published.