Legislative Assembly · District of Melton
Fiona Adin-Jones
Last verified 29 Sept 2026
Seat context — Melton›
Melton is a Labor-held outer-western-suburbs seat that becomes an open contest in 2026: sitting MP Steve McGhie, a former paramedic and ambulance union official who has held the seat since 2018, announced in September 2025 that he will not recontest. Labor has preselected local teacher Broden Borg, who grew up in Melton and attended Melton Secondary College. The Liberal candidate is Jarrod Bingham; the Greens' candidate is Veronika Levchenkova, a local mother of four and community organiser. The 2026 field is seven candidates: Labor's Broden Borg, the Liberals' Jarrod Bingham, the Greens' Veronika Levchenkova, Family First's Marlene West, One Nation's Matthew Katselis, the Animal Justice Party's Fiona Adin-Jones and the New Democrats' Jasleen Kaur. At the 2022 election McGhie won 37.7% of first preferences and 54.6% two-party-preferred.
Background
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
She describes herself as a lifelong animal advocate; no 2026 policy statement was found.
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
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Crime and community safety
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Housing affordability and supply
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
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
She stood for the Animal Justice Party in Melton in 2022 (listed as Fiona Adin-James), receiving 743 votes (2.0%). VVerified — WIKI-MELTON-RESWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Melton"View source
A Facebook page titled "Animal Justice Party for Hawke" suggests she was also the party's candidate for the federal seat of Hawke in 2025; this was not otherwise confirmed. RReported — FB-ADINJAMESFacebook, "Fiona Adin-James - Animal Justice Party for Hawke"View source
Her surname is Adin-James in the 2022 results and on that page but Adin-Jones on The Tally Room and Election Tracker; they are treated as the same person because the party, seat and first name match.
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.
Adin-Jones polled 2.0% in Melton in 2022, below the 4% mark, so that campaign did not qualify for public funding.