Legislative Assembly · District of Box Hill
Sally Houguet
Last verified 30 Sept 2026
Seat context — Box Hill›
Box Hill is a 29 km² district in Melbourne's east covering Box Hill, Box Hill North, Box Hill South, Mont Albert, Mont Albert North, most of Blackburn, and parts of Balwyn North, Burwood, Burwood East and Surrey Hills. It has been held by Labor's Paul Hamer since he won it from the Liberals in 2018. At the 2022 election he was re-elected with 57.2% of the two-party-preferred vote, a 7.2-point margin.
Background
Her LinkedIn profile lists her location as Surrey Hills, one of the suburbs within the Box Hill electorate. SSelf-stated — LINKEDIN-HOUGUETLinkedIn, "Sally Houguet"View source
Is a mother of two standing in Box Hill. SSelf-stated — LIBV-SALLY-HOUGUETLiberal Victoria, "Sally Houguet — Liberal candidate profile" (2 Mar 2026)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.
"Box Hill locals are sick of the Labor Government and their local MP ignoring them. More than 10,000 community members have fought hard to save the Brickworks site, and they deserve a government that listens and invests in our community."
Publicly scrutinised sitting MP Paul Hamer's unfulfilled 2022 promise of a pedestrian crossing on Elgar Road, saying of the government's conduct: "this government lies, misdirects, diverts and dodges."
Practical change: easing living costs, homeownership pressure, traffic and service cuts, making it easier to do business, preserving Box Hill's character with more green space and tree canopy, and supporting sensible housing growth.
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
No Box Hill-specific cost-of-living statement found from Houguet. Party rhetoric (not candidate-specific) frames Victoria as "the most overtaxed state in the country," without a Box Hill-specific mechanism.
Names rising living costs and homeownership pressure as priorities.
Crime and community safety
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Housing affordability and supply
On the Box Hill Brickworks site, pledged that a Liberal government would fund remediation of the 7-hectare site as permanent public parkland — pending Whitehorse Council's acquisition — and revoke existing Labor planning rules permitting high-rise construction there, at a cost of $20 million.
Framed the Brickworks campaign around a 10,000-plus-signature community push to save the site from high-rise redevelopment.
Statewide party platform (not Box Hill-specific): Opposition Leader Jess Wilson pledged to scrap Labor's "activity centres" policy permitting high-rise in middle-ring suburbs, instead expanding the Capital City Zone and fast-tracking growth-area Precinct Structure Plans.
Appeared as a panelist at a Box Hill forum on women's homelessness, alongside an MP, a Salvation Army manager and a lived-experience advocate.
Supports sensible housing growth.
State government debt and fiscal management
No Box Hill-specific fiscal statement found from Houguet. Party rhetoric (not candidate-specific) frames Victoria as "drowning in Labor debt," without a detailed state fiscal plan attributed to her.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Publicly criticised sitting MP Paul Hamer over a 2022 promise to deliver a pedestrian crossing on Elgar Road that, nearly four years on, had still not been built, framing it as part of a pattern of the government "lies, misdirects, diverts and dodges."
Names more traffic and fewer local services as problems.
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
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Urban planning and housing density
The Box Hill Brickworks site (7 hectares) was approved by the Planning Minister in June 2026 for 95% housing/mixed-use development, with buildings up to 10 storeys around the edges and taller buildings in the centre, leaving only 5% open space.
Campaigned against this outcome alongside state Liberal colleagues, promising instead to fund the site as permanent public parkland and revoke the high-rise planning rules if elected.
Opposition to the Brickworks high-rise outcome was echoed by Whitehorse Mayor Kirsten Langford ("incredibly disappointing") and North-Eastern Metropolitan Liberal MP Richard Welch ("bad urban planning and a betrayal of future generations"), alongside a resident petition of several thousand signatures.
Wants Box Hill's local character preserved with more green space, more tree canopy and better liveability.
Climate and energy transition
Party line (not candidate-specific): the Coalition's energy policy proposes an auction for industry-proposed new generation requiring "firm" (on-demand) supply, described by the party as "technologically agnostic," and opposes Labor's revived State Electricity Commission model of public ownership.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Party line (not candidate-specific): the Victorian Liberals pledged to repeal the Statewide Treaty legislation within 100 days of taking office, and to establish a separate First Nations advisory body outside the Gellung Warl representative body created under Treaty.
Incoming leader Jess Wilson reaffirmed on taking the leadership in November 2025 that she would repeal the Treaty if the Coalition won government.
Regional and rural Victoria
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
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 Box Hill Brickworks site (7 hectares, a former landfill/brickworks on Federation Street) is contested between Labor's approved 95% housing/mixed-use high-rise redevelopment (up to 10 storeys, approved June 2026) and a Liberal/community push for permanent public parkland, which Houguet and the state party have pledged $20 million to fund if elected. SSelf-stated — MIRAGE-BRICKWORKS, EM-BRICKWORKSMirage News, "Liberals Promise New Box Hill Park at Brickworks" (23 Aug 2026)View sourceEastern Melburnian, "Box Hill Brickworks site cleared for high-rise buildings taller than 10 storeys, ignoring council and resident opposition"View source
Has criticised sitting MP Paul Hamer over a 2022 promise to deliver a pedestrian crossing on Elgar Road that, nearly four years on, had still not been built. SSelf-stated — FB-AUDITRichard Welch MP (Facebook), "Sally Houguet — Liberal for Box Hill — "I have started a little audit of Paul Hamer""View source
Preserving Box Hill's character with more green space and tree canopy. SSelf-stated — LIBV-SALLY-HOUGUETLiberal Victoria, "Sally Houguet — Liberal candidate profile" (2 Mar 2026)View source
Her most substantive, sourced positions — the Brickworks parkland pledge and the Elgar Road crossing accountability line — are genuinely local, going beyond generic party messaging, though they sit within the state party's broader housing/planning framing of opposing Labor-enabled density. SSelf-stated — MIRAGE-BRICKWORKS, FB-AUDITMirage News, "Liberals Promise New Box Hill Park at Brickworks" (23 Aug 2026)View sourceRichard Welch MP (Facebook), "Sally Houguet — Liberal for Box Hill — "I have started a little audit of Paul Hamer""View source
On crime, debt/fiscal, climate-energy and treaty, only the statewide Victorian Liberal platform could be found — no Box Hill or Houguet-specific statement located despite active searching.
On education and health, despite Box Hill Institute and Box Hill Hospital both being in-electorate landmarks, no statement at all — party or candidate level — was found in this research pass.
Their profile presents them as part of Jess Wilson's Liberal team, and the policies it names are the party's own plan rather than independent positions of theirs. SSelf-stated — LIBV-SALLY-HOUGUETLiberal Victoria, "Sally Houguet — Liberal candidate profile" (2 Mar 2026)View source
Track record & prior candidacies
Was 5th (last) on the Liberal Party's group ticket for the Legislative Council region of North-Eastern Metropolitan at the 2022 Victorian state election, behind Matthew Bach, Nick McGowan, Kirsten Langford and Irene Ling. VVerified — VEC-NEMETRO2022Victorian Electoral Commission, "2022 State Election Results — North-Eastern Metropolitan Region" (2022)View source
Only the top two positions on the Liberal ticket (Bach, McGowan) were elected in that region in 2022; Houguet, at position 5, was not elected. VVerified — VEC-NEMETRO2022, TALLYROOM-NEMETRO2022Victorian Electoral Commission, "2022 State Election Results — North-Eastern Metropolitan Region" (2022)View sourceThe Tally Room, "North Eastern Metropolitan – Victoria 2022" (2022)View source
No record found of her contesting Box Hill or any other Legislative Assembly seat before 2026 — the 2022 Liberal candidate for Box Hill was Nicole Werner, not Houguet. VVerified — TALLYROOM-BOXHILL2022, ABC-BOXHILL22The Tally Room, "Box Hill – Victoria 2022" (2022)View sourceABC News, "Box Hill — VIC Electorate, Candidates, Results (2022 election guide)" (2022)View source
No record found of a Houguet candidacy for Whitehorse City Council or Boroondara City Council in the 2020 or 2024 general local government elections, the two general council elections held during a plausible candidacy window. VVerified — WP-COUNCILS2020, WP-COUNCILS2024Wikipedia, "Results of the 2020 Victorian local elections in Eastern Melbourne" (2020)View sourceWikipedia, "Results of the 2024 Victorian local elections in Eastern Melbourne" (2024)View source
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
Sally Houguet would be eligible for Victorian state election public campaign funding if she (or another Liberal Party candidate) receives at least 4% of first-preference votes in the relevant contest, or is elected — funding for party-endorsed candidates is paid to the Liberal Party itself, calculated against the party's audited campaign-expenditure statement and its candidates' vote counts, 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 per the Consumer Price Index — the 1 July 2026 indexation round also set the political-donation disclosure threshold at $1,290 and the general donation cap at $5,190 (rising to $7,740 from 29 November 2026, after the election), following the Electoral Further Amendment Act 2026 (per the VEC's own funding guidance and indexation page, accessed 2026-09-21).