Legislative Assembly · District of Clarinda
John Paganis
Last verified 30 Sept 2026
Seat context — Clarinda›
Clarinda is a Legislative Assembly district in Melbourne's south-east, covering all or part of Clarinda, Clayton, Springvale, Heatherton, Mentone, Dingley Village and Cheltenham, spanning about 45 km² within the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region. The district was created for the 2014 state election, and Labor has held it continuously since. Sitting member Meng Heang Tak retained the seat at the 2022 election with a two-party-preferred margin of 10.2% (60.2% to 39.8%), down from 14.9% in 2018.
Background
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
Reducing the cost of living, and improving safety by hiring 3,000 more police, returning PSOs to train stations and introducing tougher sentencing.
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
Wants to reduce the cost of living for families and businesses.
Crime and community safety
The Coalition's bail and sentencing policy, per the ABC, would automatically deny bail to reoffenders under a one-strike rule and treat burglary, serious assault and attempted murder as adult offences.
Nothing on crime is attributed to Paganis personally.
Backs hiring 3,000 more police, returning PSOs to train stations and tougher sentencing.
Housing affordability and supply
The Coalition would lift the first-home buyer threshold to remove stamp duty on homes up to $1 million, per a housing-policy comparison; nothing is attributed to Paganis personally.
State government debt and fiscal management
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
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
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Climate and energy transition
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
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.
Track record & prior candidacies
He is not among the candidates in the 2018 or 2022 Clarinda results; the Liberals' candidates were Gandhi Bevinakoppa (24.7%) and Anthony Richardson (28.6%). VVerified — WIKI-CLARINDA-RESULTSWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Clarinda"View source
No earlier campaign was found, so this appears to be his first.
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
Per the Victorian Electoral Commission's funding guidance (vec.vic.gov.au, accessed 2026-09-29 via search snippets of its independent-candidate and registered-party funding pages), a candidate is eligible for public election funding if they receive at least 4% of first-preference votes in their contest, or are elected. Funding is reimbursed against an audited statement of campaign expenditure, and advance funding must be repaid in full if the threshold is missed.
Paganis has not previously contested an election, so he has no funding entitlement from an earlier contest. The Liberals' 2022 Clarinda candidate polled 28.6%.