The Public Ledger

Legislative Assembly · District of Glen Waverley

Nicholas Siow

Last verified 29 Sept 2026

Victorian Socialists
Candidate photo — pending
Seat context — Glen Waverley›
Illustration pending

Glen Waverley is a marginal seat in Melbourne's east, recreated at the 2021 redistribution, with a diverse, multicultural population that includes a significant Chinese-Australian community. Labor's John Mullahy won it in 2022 with 40.6% of first preferences and 53.3% to 46.7% two-party-preferred against sitting Liberal MP Neil Angus, a notional Labor gain. Mullahy is recontesting. The 2026 field is four candidates: Mullahy, the Liberals' Jacky Sun, the Greens' Toyo White and the Victorian Socialists' Nicholas Siow (whom Wikipedia's candidates table labels independent). An earlier pass recorded that Sun drew scrutiny in August 2026 over a campaign-recruitment program aimed at international students, but the underlying report could not be retrieved for this pass.

Identity & ballot position§ 01
House
Legislative Assembly
Seat
Glen Waverley
Incumbent
No
Party
Victorian Socialists
Ballot position
Not yet assigned
§ 02

Background

Occupation / profession
His Victorian Socialists profile does not state an occupation or union roles.
Prior public roles
Is active in community activism, including anti-racism campaigns and Palestine solidarity work, and took part in protests against Israeli President Isaac Herzog's 2024 visit to Australia. SSelf-stated — VS-SIOWVictorian Socialists, "Nicholas Siow"View source
Local ties
Says he has lived in the Glen Waverley area his whole life. SSelf-stated — VS-SIOWVictorian Socialists, "Nicholas Siow"View source
Education
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
§ 03

Platform

Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.

Stated top campaign priorities

The housing shortage, public services and infrastructure, countering the far right, and advocating for working-class interests against corporate power.

"Our community deserves a representative in parliament who will fight for working-class people."

SSelf-stated — VS-SIOWVictorian Socialists, "Nicholas Siow"View sourceSSelf-stated — VS-SIOWVictorian Socialists, "Nicholas Siow"View source

What Victorians say matters most

5 poll-led issues

Cost 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

iWhat this coversPosition on everyday household costs — groceries, utilities, insurance, transport.
Candidate’s priority4 / 10

Advocates for working-class interests against corporate influence.

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.

SSelf-stated — VS-SIOWVictorian Socialists, "Nicholas Siow"View sourceSSelf-stated — VS-POLICY-FISCALVictorian Socialists, "How Will We Pay For It?"View source

Crime and community safety

iWhat this coversPosition on crime rates, policing and community safety, including youth crime and bail law.
Candidate’s priority3 / 10

Wants to counter far-right political movements.

SSelf-stated — VS-SIOWVictorian Socialists, "Nicholas Siow"View source

Housing affordability and supply

iWhat this coversPosition on home ownership costs, rental affordability, and housing supply/planning.
Candidate’s priority6 / 10

Names the housing shortage as a priority.

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.

SSelf-stated — VS-SIOWVictorian Socialists, "Nicholas Siow"View sourceSSelf-stated — VS-POLICY-HOUSINGVictorian Socialists, "Housing For All"View source

State government debt and fiscal management

iWhat this coversPosition on debt levels and what they mean for future taxes and service funding.
Candidate’s priority2 / 10

The party's fiscal policy centres on new revenue including a 10% annual billionaire wealth tax; nothing on debt levels is attributed to Siow.

SSelf-stated — VS-POLICY-FISCALVictorian Socialists, "How Will We Pay For It?"View source

Infrastructure and public transport delivery

iWhat this coversPosition on congestion, commute reliability, and cost/timeline overruns on major projects.
Candidate’s priority4 / 10

Names improving public services and infrastructure as a priority.

SSelf-stated — VS-SIOWVictorian Socialists, "Nicholas Siow"View source

Also on the record

6 substance issues

These don't top “biggest issue” polling, but carry real 2026 policy weight and genuine differences between parties.

Education and training

iWhat this coversPosition on school funding and infrastructure, curriculum and teaching quality, university funding and research, and TAFE/VET.
Candidate’s priority1 / 10

A summary of the party's education policy says it would provide universal preschool and childcare and end NAPLAN testing; nothing is attributed to Siow personally.

RReported — VS-POLICIESVictorian Socialists, "Policies"View source

Health and healthcare access

iWhat this coversPosition on hospital and clinic funding, GP/specialist access and wait times, and ambulance performance including ramping.
Candidate’s priority1 / 10

A summary of the party's health policy says it would fully fund public healthcare and expand free community clinics; nothing is attributed to Siow personally.

RReported — VS-POLICIESVictorian Socialists, "Policies"View source

Urban planning and housing density

iWhat this coversPosition on zoning and density, heritage and consultation processes, urban sprawl versus infill, and access to parks and green space.
Candidate’s priority0 / 10

Not detailed in sources reviewed.

Climate and energy transition

iWhat this coversPosition on renewable energy targets, offshore wind delivery, transmission infrastructure, and the reinstated State Electricity Commission.
Candidate’s priority1 / 10

A summary of the party's energy policies says it would move to 100% publicly owned renewable energy; nothing is attributed to Siow personally.

RReported — VS-POLICIESVictorian Socialists, "Policies"View source

Treaty and First Nations affairs

iWhat this coversPosition on implementing the Statewide Treaty and the new Gellung Warl representative body, and on future local treaties.
Candidate’s priority1 / 10

A summary of the party's First Nations policy says it wants a treaty with material change beyond symbolic recognition; nothing is attributed to Siow personally.

RReported — VS-POLICIESVictorian Socialists, "Policies"View source

Regional and rural Victoria

iWhat this coversPosition on water security, the native-forest-logging transition, road and service funding, and population decline in country towns.
Candidate’s priority0 / 10

Not detailed in sources reviewed.

Local & party context

2 fields

Not 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.

Seat-specific issues
His profile names no Glen Waverley-specific project.
Party platform alignment

Siow runs on the Victorian Socialists' statewide platform, and his priorities match it. SSelf-stated — VS-SIOW, VS-POLICIESVictorian Socialists, "Nicholas Siow"View sourceVictorian Socialists, "Policies"View source

No point of divergence was found.

V VerifiedS Self-statedR Reported— hover or tap any mark for what it means
§ 04

Track record & prior candidacies

Terms served
No elected office found.
Portfolios held
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Notable votes, bills, committee work
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Previous candidacies

His profile mentions no prior candidacy. SSelf-stated — VS-SIOWVictorian Socialists, "Nicholas Siow"View source

He is not among the candidates in the 2022 Glen Waverley results, where no Victorian Socialists candidate is listed. VVerified — WIKI-GW-RESWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Glen Waverley"View source

§ 05–08

Campaign, money & endorsements

Campaign logistics

Social
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Contact
nicholas.siow@victoriansocialists.org.au (per his party profile). No personal social handles found.
How-to-vote card
Not yet published

Endorsements & Donations

Organisational
None reported in sources reviewed.
Individual
None reported in sources reviewed.
VEC disclosure
Not yet available.
Public funding

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.

Siow has not previously contested an election, so he has no funding entitlement from an earlier contest.

Dataset housekeeping

Nomination status
Expected — Listed as the Victorian Socialists' Glen Waverley candidate on the party's candidate page; Wikipedia's 2026 candidates table labels him independent, which appears to be a column error. The party did not contest Glen Waverley in 2022. VEC nomination cannot be lodged until nominations open 4 November 2026.
Last verified
29 Sept 2026
Sources
See the Source register below — every V/S/R mark on this page names its specific source on hover.

Source register

VS-SIOW
Victorian Socialists, “Nicholas Siow” — Party's own material — View source · accessed 29 Sept 2026
VS-POLICIES
Victorian Socialists, “Policies” — Party policy platform — View source · accessed 29 Sept 2026
VS-POLICY-HOUSING
Victorian Socialists, “Housing For All” — Party policy platform — View source · accessed 29 Sept 2026
VS-POLICY-FISCAL
Victorian Socialists, “How Will We Pay For It?” — Party policy platform — View source · accessed 29 Sept 2026
WIKI-GW-RES
Wikipedia, “Electoral results for the district of Glen Waverley” — Encyclopedia (crowdsourced) — View source · accessed 29 Sept 2026