Legislative Assembly · District of Gippsland South
Lachie McGennisken
Last verified 30 Sept 2026
Seat context — Gippsland South›
Gippsland South is a rural seat in south-eastern Victoria, covering Sale, Leongatha, Foster, Yarram, Mirboo North, Rosedale, Port Albert and Venus Bay, and among the safest National-held seats in the state. Danny O'Brien won it at the March 2015 by-election after Peter Ryan's resignation, and has led the Victorian Nationals since 25 November 2024. In 2022 he won 53.3% of first preferences and 65.2% two-party-preferred against Labor's Denise Ryan. He is treated as the standard-bearer for 2026, and the main contest is One Nation's regional surge: a Redbridge poll cited by the ABC put One Nation on 32% in the Eastern Victoria upper house region, and O'Brien has called it 'a real threat'. The 2026 field found is O'Brien, the Greens' Zave Evans, One Nation's Bianca Wilke and the Victorian Socialists' Lachie McGennisken. No Labor candidate has been found for this seat, and Wikipedia's 2026 table lists Evans as Labor and Wilke as Greens, which the parties' own pages contradict.
Background
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
Quality public schools, healthcare, childcare and aged care, climate action and a coal transition, workers' rights and protection for marginalised communities.
"We need a socialist alternative to the mainstream parties and the racist, divide-and-rule politics of One Nation."
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
The party's fiscal policy would fund services with a 10% annual wealth tax on billionaires and a 20% bank profits tax; nothing on cost of living is attributed to McGennisken personally.
Crime and community safety
Opposes the racist, divide-and-rule politics of One Nation and wants protection for marginalised communities.
Housing affordability and supply
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; nothing on housing is attributed to McGennisken personally.
State government debt and fiscal management
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
A summary of the party's transport policy says it would make public transport free; nothing is attributed to McGennisken personally.
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
Wants investment in quality public schools and childcare.
A summary of the party's education policy says it would provide universal preschool and childcare and end NAPLAN testing.
Health and healthcare access
Wants investment in healthcare and aged care.
A summary of the party's health policy says it would fully fund public healthcare and expand free community clinics.
Urban planning and housing density
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Climate and energy transition
Wants climate action and a transition away from the coal industry.
A summary of the party's energy policies says it would move to 100% publicly owned renewable energy.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
A summary of the party's First Nations policy says it wants a treaty with material change beyond symbolic recognition; nothing is attributed to McGennisken personally.
Regional and rural Victoria
Grew up in the Latrobe Valley and speaks to its coal transition.
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.
Their priorities match the Victorian Socialists' statewide platform. SSelf-stated — VS-LM, VS-POLICIESVictorian Socialists, "Lachie McGennisken"View sourceVictorian Socialists, "Policies"View source
No point of divergence was found.
Wikipedia's 2026 candidates table lists them, without a party label, as a Gippsland South candidate. RReported — WIKI-2026CANDSWikipedia, "Candidates of the 2026 Victorian state election"View source
Track record & prior candidacies
Their profile mentions no prior candidacy. SSelf-stated — VS-LMVictorian Socialists, "Lachie McGennisken"View source
They are not among the candidates in the 2022 Gippsland South results, in which the Victorian Socialists did not field a candidate. VVerified — WIKI-GS-RESWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Gippsland South"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.
McGennisken has not previously contested an election, and the Victorian Socialists did not field a Gippsland South candidate in 2022.