Legislative Assembly · District of Gippsland East
Amy Espeseth
Last verified 29 Sept 2026
Seat context — Gippsland East›
Gippsland East is Victoria's third-largest electorate by area (about 27,544 sq km), covering all of East Gippsland Shire and the northern part of Wellington Shire, including Bairnsdale, Lakes Entrance, Orbost, Omeo, Maffra, Heyfield, Bruthen, Buchan, Cann River and Mallacoota. It sits in the Eastern Victoria Legislative Council region. The Country/National Party held it from 1920 to 1999, independent Craig Ingram from 1999 to 2010, and the Nationals' Tim Bull from 2010; in 2022 Bull won 63.3% of first preferences and 74.6% to 25.4% two-party-preferred over Labor. Bull announced in May 2026 that he will not recontest, so the seat is open. The 2026 field is five candidates: the Nationals' Gemma Rendell, Labor's Sonny Stephens, the Greens' Ash Munro, One Nation's Steve Goodman and the Victorian Socialists' Amy Espeseth. The Tally Room says One Nation will be hoping to win the seat.
Background
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
Rent caps and public housing in rural areas, fair wages, taxing billionaires, free public childcare and transport, and a zero-carbon transition by 2035.
Also backs publicly owned essential services, welcoming immigration and anti-racism, disability access and LGBTQIA+ inclusion.
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
Calls for fair wages and progressive taxation of billionaires and corporations.
The party's fiscal policy would fund services with a 10% annual wealth tax on billionaires, a 20% bank profits tax and a 20% super-profits tax on retailers earning over $100 million.
Crime and community safety
A summary of the party's policing policy says it would raise the age of criminal responsibility to 16; nothing is attributed to Espeseth personally.
Housing affordability and supply
Calls for rent caps and public housing construction in rural areas.
The party's housing policy would cut all residential rents 25% then freeze them for five years, and build at least 15,000 public housing units a year for ten years.
State government debt and fiscal management
Wants progressive taxation of billionaires and corporations.
The party's fiscal policy centres on new revenue including a 10% annual billionaire wealth tax.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Backs free, reliable public transport and publicly owned transport.
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
Backs free, public childcare five days a week and publicly owned education.
Health and healthcare access
Backs publicly owned healthcare and disability access.
Urban planning and housing density
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Climate and energy transition
Backs a zero-carbon transition by 2035 without abandoning affected workers, and publicly owned energy.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Describes ties to Gunaikurnai Country and land stewardship.
A summary of the party's First Nations policy says it wants a treaty with material change beyond symbolic recognition.
Regional and rural Victoria
Calls her platform "rural common sense" and wants public housing and services built in rural areas.
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.
Espeseth runs on the Victorian Socialists' statewide platform, and her priorities match it. SSelf-stated — VS-AE, VS-POLICIESVictorian Socialists, "Amy Espeseth"View sourceVictorian Socialists, "Policies"View source
No point of divergence was found.
Track record & prior candidacies
Her profile mentions no prior candidacy.
She is not among the candidates in the 2018 or 2022 Gippsland East results, where no Victorian Socialists candidate is listed. VVerified — WIKI-GE-RESWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Gippsland East"View source
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.
Espeseth has not previously contested an election, so she has no funding entitlement from an earlier contest.