Legislative Assembly · District of Benambra
Steve Martin
Last verified 30 Sept 2026
Seat context — Benambra›
Benambra covers about 10,037 sq km of north-eastern Victoria centred on Wodonga, taking in towns such as Beechworth, Corryong, Rutherglen and Tallangatta. The seat has been held continuously by conservative parties since its creation in 1877, most recently by Liberal MP Bill Tilley since 2006, who won it narrowly at the 2022 election with 50.9% to an independent's 49.1% two-candidate-preferred (a margin of 777 votes). Tilley announced in 2024 that he will retire at the 2026 election, following a cancer diagnosis. Steve Martin — a separate person from Tilley, previously mentored by him in an unsuccessful 2019 federal Indi campaign — is the Liberal Party's new candidate to succeed him.
Background
Currently works as engineering manager at property development company Nordcon Land, Wodonga. RReported — BM-MARTIN-CONTEST, BM-HOSPITALThe Border Mail, "Steve Martin set to contest Benambra seat in 2026 election"View sourceThe Border Mail, "Steve Martin backs new Border hospital in Benambra election bid" (12 Dec 2025)View source
A ZoomInfo business-directory listing independently lists him as Manager, Engineering at Nordcon Land, matching the employer reported in local press. VVerified — ZI-NORDCONZoomInfo, "Stephen Martin — Manager, Engineering, Nordcon Land"View source
Previously worked as a project manager on the Mars Petcare Wodonga plant expansion, and later managed Seeley International's relocation from Albury to Wodonga. RReported — BM-PRESELECTION-2018The Border Mail, "Wodonga's Steve Martin wins Liberal party preselection in Indi" (9 Dec 2018)View source
Liberal Party campaign material describes him as a chartered civil engineer who worked on major infrastructure projects in Sydney and Melbourne before relocating to the Border region. SSelf-stated — LIB-BIOLiberal Party Victoria, "Steve Martin — Liberal for Benambra (candidate profile page)"View source
Says he worked in the housing sector and helped deliver infrastructure projects including major highway upgrades. SSelf-stated — LIBV-STEVE-MARTINLiberal Victoria, "Steve Martin — Liberal candidate profile" (19 Feb 2026)View source
Martin, his wife Annabel, and their four children have lived in Wodonga for 11 years as of the campaign's December 2025 announcement. RReported — BM-MARTIN-CONTEST, WC-PRESELECTIONThe Border Mail, "Steve Martin set to contest Benambra seat in 2026 election"View sourceWangaratta Chronicle, "Libs choose Steve Martin for Benambra" (18 Dec 2025)View source
An earlier 2018 profile placed the family's move to the Border region at around 2013; Martin said at the time, "We've always wanted to bring our kids up in regional Australia." SSelf-stated — BM-PRESELECTION-2018The Border Mail, "Wodonga's Steve Martin wins Liberal party preselection in Indi" (9 Dec 2018)View source
Originally from central NSW; his wife Annabel is originally from the La Trobe Valley in Victoria and works locally as a doctor with training experience in Albury-Wodonga. RReported — BM-PRESELECTION-2018The Border Mail, "Wodonga's Steve Martin wins Liberal party preselection in Indi" (9 Dec 2018)View source
Cites his children's experience with the local hospital emergency department as part of his motivation to campaign on a new Border hospital. SSelf-stated — BM-HOSPITALThe Border Mail, "Steve Martin backs new Border hospital in Benambra election bid" (12 Dec 2025)View source
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
States his top campaign priorities as easing cost-of-living pressures, improving local health services, and increasing investment in regional roads.
Pledges $1.5 million a year for North East council road and bridge upgrades (totalling $288 million over a term), on top of a separate $5 billion statewide roads initiative.
"I absolutely support a single-site greenfields hospital" for the Border region.
On extra funding for the Albury hospital upgrade: "We will deliver the full scope of what has been committed, if that takes more than $100m we will provide more than $100m."
"Only 12 per cent of the infrastructure spend goes to regional Victoria while we make up 25 per cent of the population" — argues for a fairer regional funding share.
Names a lower cost of living, upgraded local roads and better local health services as priorities.
What Victorians say matters most
5 poll-led issuesCost of living and crime have ranked 1st or 2nd in every Victorian poll since mid‑2025, with debt and housing close behind — see schema §3 for the polling this grouping is based on (DemosAU, Ipsos Issues Monitor, Roy Morgan). The 0-10 'priorityScore' on each candidate's issue entries is NOT a measure of true importance or an independent ranking of what a candidate actually cares about. It reflects how much detail and specificity exists in what that candidate has actually said publicly on that issue -- a named policy mechanism and a verified voting record score higher than a one-line stated priority, regardless of the issue's real-world weight. Render this distinction in the UI wherever the score appears; do not label it just 'Priority' without the qualifier.
Cost of living
Lists easing cost-of-living pressures as one of his top three campaign priorities.
No candidate-specific mechanism (rebate, tax cut, or similar) found. Broader state Liberal messaging frames Victoria as "the most overtaxed state in the country" without Benambra-specific detail.
Crime and community safety
Victorian Liberal/Nationals platform (not candidate-specific): a "one-strike bail rule" automatically denying bail to reoffenders, ending the youth bail exemption, and expanding "adult crime" offence categories to include burglary, serious assault and attempted murder.
Party platform also proposes a new standalone Court of Criminal Appeal, split from the existing Court of Appeal, to pursue tougher sentencing outcomes.
Wodonga's recorded crime rate (7,975 per 100,000) sits above the Victorian average (6,692), with 10-17-year-olds the largest single offender group locally (361 individuals) — seat-level context rather than a Martin statement.
Housing affordability and supply
No Benambra-specific housing statement found from Martin. Victorian Liberal statewide platform proposes expanding the Melbourne CBD as a place to live and fast-tracking land release and Precinct Structure Plans in growth areas.
The same platform proposes scrapping Labor's higher-density "activity centres" rezoning plan for middle-ring Melbourne suburbs — explicitly Melbourne-focused, with no shown application to Benambra.
State government debt and fiscal management
No Martin-specific fiscal policy found. Party rhetoric (not candidate-specific) frames Victoria as "drowning in Labor debt" and the most overtaxed state, without a detailed state fiscal plan.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Pledges $1.5 million a year per North East council for road and bridge upgrades ($288 million total over a term), separate from a $5 billion statewide roads initiative; singles out Towong Shire given its low population but high asset-maintenance burden.
Cites Towong Shire's roughly $10 million in bushfire-related road and bridge repair needs as an example of underfunded regional infrastructure.
Constituents have raised V/Line booking-system disruptions and train overcrowding with him directly.
Also on the record
6 substance issuesThese don't top “biggest issue” polling, but carry real 2026 policy weight and genuine differences between parties.
Education and training
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Health and healthcare access
"I absolutely support a single-site greenfields hospital" for the Border region, and says he would listen to nurses, doctors and advocacy groups before finalising a position.
Pledges Coalition funding for 50 extra beds via modular wards, more car parking, specialist youth acute mental-health beds, a paediatric ward and operating theatres, plus a feasibility study for alternate hospital sites.
Says this would go beyond the existing $558 million ($225m Victorian, $225m NSW) Albury hospital upgrade if needed: "if that takes more than $100m we will provide more than $100m."
Corryong has gone roughly eight months without a permanent GP, relying on locum rotation — raised with him directly by local voters as an access concern.
Urban planning and housing density
No Benambra-specific statement found. Victorian Liberal statewide platform (Melbourne-focused) proposes scrapping Labor's high-density "activity centre" rezoning in middle-ring Melbourne suburbs in favour of expanded CBD residential capacity.
Climate and energy transition
Victorian Liberal platform (not candidate-specific) proposes pausing major transmission projects including VNI West and the Western Renewables Link, and a full review of the Victorian Transmission Plan.
VNI West's budget has grown from an original $2 billion estimate to at least $7.6 billion (potentially over $11 billion); one estimate attributes roughly $600 a year in added power-bill costs to transmission builds.
Party platform also proposes "Urban Solar Parks" on commercial and industrial rooftops, claimed able to supply up to 25% of demand and reduce new transmission need, plus restoring farmers' control over renewable-infrastructure land access.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Victorian Liberal platform (not candidate-specific) commits to scrapping the Statewide Treaty within 100 days of taking office, replacing it with a new "First Nations Victoria" department reporting to parliament and overseeing Closing the Gap targets instead of Treaty/Gellung Warl.
Party leader Jess Wilson has confirmed she "fully supports" abolishing the Treaty, arguing it funds First Peoples' Assembly "bureaucracy" without helping close the gap, and claims repeal would save close to $1 billion over 10 years.
Regional and rural Victoria
Pledges $1.5 million a year per North East council for roads and bridges ($288 million total), separate from a $5 billion statewide roads initiative; names Towong Shire specifically as under strain, including roughly $10 million in bushfire repair costs.
"Only 12 per cent of the infrastructure spend goes to regional Victoria while we make up 25 per cent of the population" — his own framing of regional funding inequity.
Party leader Jess Wilson has pledged 25% of all Coalition infrastructure funding would go to regional Victoria (matching the region's population share) if elected, though with no dollar figure attached.
Corryong has had no permanent GP for roughly eight months, relying on locum rotation — a specific regional health-access gap raised with him by local voters.
V/Line booking-system disruptions and train overcrowding have also been raised by North East constituents as a persistent regional service failure.
Local & party context
2 fieldsNot scored the way the eleven issues above are — these are fixed facts about the seat and the party, not positions with more or less emphasis behind them.
The Albury Wodonga Health hospital redevelopment: a $558 million upgrade ($225m Victorian, $225m NSW funding, a cross-border project) proceeding at the existing site despite strong local and clinical support — including from outgoing MP Bill Tilley — for a single greenfields site instead. SSelf-stated — BM-HOSPITAL100M, BM-HOSPITALThe Border Mail, "Coalition prepared to go beyond $100m on Albury hospital extras"View sourceThe Border Mail, "Steve Martin backs new Border hospital in Benambra election bid" (12 Dec 2025)View source
Martin backs the greenfields option and pledges "more than $100m" in extra funding for beds, a paediatric ward, youth mental-health beds and a feasibility study into alternate sites. SSelf-stated — BM-HOSPITAL100MThe Border Mail, "Coalition prepared to go beyond $100m on Albury hospital extras"View source
A GP shortage specific to Corryong (Towong Shire) — roughly eight months without a permanent doctor, reliant on locums. RReported — WC-PRESELECTIONWangaratta Chronicle, "Libs choose Steve Martin for Benambra" (18 Dec 2025)View source
Towong Shire's bushfire-damaged local road and bridge network (about $10 million in repair needs) is named specifically as an example of underfunded regional infrastructure. SSelf-stated — BM-ROADSThe Border Mail, "Steve Martin: $1.5 million pledged for regional road upgrades"View source
As a Liberal-endorsed candidate, Martin's public statements track the state party line closely on health funding, regional infrastructure share, and crime/bail policy — no divergence from official Coalition positions found in any source reviewed. SSelf-stated — BM-HOSPITAL100M, LIB-STATECOUNCILThe Border Mail, "Coalition prepared to go beyond $100m on Albury hospital extras"View sourceLiberal Party of Australia, "Address to the Victorian State Council" (23 May 2026)View source
Several structured issues above (education, urban planning, climate/energy transmission, and treaty) carry no Martin-specific statement on record; the positions recorded for them are the Victorian Liberal Party's statewide platform, not something Martin has personally said.
On regional infrastructure specifically, his own framing (12% of spend to the regions versus 25% of population) closely echoes the party's own pledge of 25% of funding to the regions — likely coordinated messaging. SSelf-stated — BM-ONENATION, ABC-AGENDAThe Border Mail, "Steve Martin: Benambra Liberal candidate faces One Nation threat" (23 May 2026)View sourceABC News, "Victoria's major party leaders outline election agenda" (23 May 2026)View source
Track record & prior candidacies
Contested the federal seat of Indi for the Liberal Party at the 2019 Australian federal election, after winning Liberal preselection in December 2018 over rivals Stephen Brooks and Andrew Walpole. VVerified — BM-PRESELECTION-2018The Border Mail, "Wodonga's Steve Martin wins Liberal party preselection in Indi" (9 Dec 2018)View source
Led on first preferences with 35,426 votes (35.09%) but lost the seat on two-candidate-preferred to independent Helen Haines, 51,886 votes (51.39%) to his 49,070 (48.61%). VVerified — AEC-INDI2019Australian Electoral Commission, "Division of Indi — 2019 federal election House of Representatives results" (2019)View source
In September 2023 publicly ruled out seeking Liberal preselection for Indi again ahead of the 2025 federal election, citing family responsibilities. VVerified — BM-RULES-OUTThe Border Mail, "2019 Indi Liberal candidate Steve Martin rules out another tilt at preselection"View source
No record found of any other candidacy — no Wodonga, Towong, Indigo, or Alpine council race, and no other state or federal seat contested — beyond the single 2019 Indi campaign. VVerified — AEC-INDI2019, BM-PRESELECTION-2018Australian Electoral Commission, "Division of Indi — 2019 federal election House of Representatives results" (2019)View sourceThe Border Mail, "Wodonga's Steve Martin wins Liberal party preselection in Indi" (9 Dec 2018)View source
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
Steve Martin would be eligible for Victorian state election public campaign funding if he receives at least 4% of first-preference votes in Benambra, or is elected. Funding is then calculated against his audited campaign-expenditure statement and his vote count, up to legislated maximums.
The current legislated maximum is $7.70 per first-preference vote for Legislative Assembly candidates ($3.84 per vote for Legislative Council candidates), indexed annually on 1 July in line with the Consumer Price Index (per the VEC's own funding guidance, accessed 2026-09-21).