Legislative Assembly · District of Lara
Oliver Randall
Last verified 30 Sept 2026
Seat context — Lara›
Lara is a safe Labor seat covering northern Geelong and rural areas to the west, including Lara, Corio, Bell Post Hill, Anakie and Balliang, and held by Labor since it was created in 2002. Ella George won it in 2022, succeeding retiring MP John Eren, with 49.7% of first preferences and 65.9% two-party-preferred against the Liberals' Ralph Krein, and is recontesting. Local issues include a proposed gas terminal at Corio Bay and the Corio refinery. The 2026 field found is five candidates: George, the Greens' Theresa Slater, One Nation's Stephen Spyros, the Victorian Socialists' Oliver Randall and Socialist Alliance's Sarah Hathway. No Liberal candidate has been found, and Wikipedia's 2026 table lists Slater as Liberal and Randall 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.
Affordable and public housing, properly funded public services, regional investment, reliable public transport, fair wages, and countering the far right.
"I want a Victoria where working people can afford a home, where public services are properly funded, and where regional Victorians aren't treated as an afterthought."
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 fair wages for essential industry workers and properly funded public services.
The party's fiscal policy would fund services with a 10% annual wealth tax on billionaires and a 20% bank profits tax.
Crime and community safety
Wants the far right countered and multiculturalism promoted.
Housing affordability and supply
Wants affordable housing for working people and the public housing system repaired and preserved.
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
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Wants reliable public transport across trains, buses and roads.
A summary of the party's transport policy says it would make public transport free.
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
A summary of the party's education policy says it would provide universal preschool and childcare and end NAPLAN testing; nothing is attributed to Randall personally.
Health and healthcare access
A summary of the party's health policy says it would fully fund public healthcare and expand free community clinics; nothing is attributed to Randall personally.
Urban planning and housing density
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Climate and energy transition
A summary of the party's energy policies says it would move to 100% publicly owned renewable energy; nothing is attributed to Randall personally.
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 Randall personally.
Regional and rural Victoria
Wants investment in regional Victoria and says regional Victorians shouldn't be treated as an afterthought.
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-OR, VS-POLICIESVictorian Socialists, "Oliver Randall"View sourceVictorian Socialists, "Policies"View source
No point of divergence was found.
The Tally Room lists them as the Victorian Socialists' Lara candidate. RReported — TALLYROOM-LARAThe Tally Room, "Lara — Victoria 2026"View source
Track record & prior candidacies
Their profile mentions no prior candidacy. SSelf-stated — VS-ORVictorian Socialists, "Oliver Randall"View source
They are not among the candidates in the 2022 Lara results, in which the Victorian Socialists did not field a candidate. VVerified — WIKI-LARA-RESWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Lara"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.
Randall has not previously contested an election, and the Victorian Socialists did not field a Lara candidate in 2022.