Legislative Assembly · District of Monbulk
Adrian Dowell
Last verified 11 Oct 2026
Seat context — Monbulk›
Monbulk is a Labor-held seat in Melbourne's outer-east Dandenong Ranges (Belgrave, Emerald, Olinda and surrounds), held by Labor since 2002. Daniela De Martino won it in 2022, succeeding retiring MP James Merlino, with 36.1% of first preferences and 57.6% to 42.4% two-party-preferred against the Liberals' Gareth Ward, and is recontesting. The 2026 field is five candidates: De Martino, the Liberals' Clare Fitzmaurice, the Greens' Dr Merran Blair, the Animal Justice Party's Alyssa Wormald and Family First's Craig Manners. The Tally Room says the seat could be vulnerable to either the Liberals or One Nation.
Background
Registered building inspector, per his One Nation profile. SSelf-stated — ON-DOWELLOne Nation Victoria, "Adrian Dowell for Monbulk"View source
Says he has previously worked across transport, logistics, automotive repairs, telephony, retail and construction. SSelf-stated — ON-DOWELLOne Nation Victoria, "Adrian Dowell for Monbulk"View source
Describes himself as a true local and long-term resident of Cockatoo, in the Dandenong Ranges part of the Monbulk electorate. SSelf-stated — ON-DOWELLOne Nation Victoria, "Adrian Dowell for Monbulk"View source
Says he has also lived in Tecoma, Boronia, Upper Ferntree Gully and Selby. SSelf-stated — ON-DOWELLOne Nation Victoria, "Adrian Dowell for Monbulk"View source
Is a father of three school-aged boys. SSelf-stated — ON-DOWELLOne Nation Victoria, "Adrian Dowell for Monbulk"View source
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
Cutting planning and building rules back to a sustainable level, with less red and green tape.
Stronger support for local farming, agriculture, tourism and small business, backed by better infrastructure in the hills.
Keeping industrial wind turbines out of the electorate.
Schools teaching kids how to think, not what to think.
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
No cost-of-living statement of his own found; his profile focuses on cutting planning and building red tape and supporting local jobs.
Party platform: wind back land tax increases on rental properties and small property owners, lift the payroll tax threshold, and abolish the 10 per cent stamp duty on home, contents and car insurance. This is the One Nation Victoria policy booklet, not a statement specific to Dowell.
Crime and community safety
No crime statement of his own found on his profile page.
Party platform: boost police administrative support and retention, mandatory minimum sentences for assaults on police and emergency workers, three new Magistrates' Courts (including at Pakenham), a 24/7 bail court, a presumption against bail for repeat offenders, and returning the age of criminal responsibility to 10.
Party platform also adds a 90-day charge-to-trial clock for serious violent charges and sentencing of children charged with serious violent offences under the adult Sentencing Act.
Housing affordability and supply
His own housing-relevant position is limited to cutting planning and building rules "back to a sustainable level", drawing on his building-inspection work.
Party platform: review government fees and charges on new homes, release under-used government land, set a legal clock on planning and building approvals, free up granny flats and spare-room rentals, and raise the foreign purchaser duty. It also links housing pressure to net overseas migration.
State government debt and fiscal management
No debt statement of his own found.
Party platform: cancel the Suburban Rail Loop, abolish the Statewide Treaty body, cut the executive layer of the public service, introduce agency sunset reviews and a "two out, one in" regulation rule. The booklet describes Victoria as carrying the highest debt in the country and is uncosted in the sources reviewed.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Wants better infrastructure in the hills so local farming, tourism and small business can create local jobs. He does not name specific projects on his profile.
Party platform: cancel the Suburban Rail Loop, fund a regional roads maintenance backlog, create a public Pothole Portal, electrify the Melton line and complete the Airport Rail Link.
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
Says schools and sporting clubs have no business indoctrinating children, and that schools must focus on teaching kids how to think, not what to think.
Party platform: a knowledge-rich sequenced curriculum replacing the Victorian Curriculum, systematic phonics and explicit instruction, expanded trade schools, and school vouchers so funding follows the student.
Health and healthcare access
No health statement of his own found.
Party platform: statewide interoperable electronic medical records, a real-time waiting list view, regional healthcare guarantee including 24/7 emergency departments in major regional hospitals, and cuts to non-clinical corporate programs.
Urban planning and housing density
Wants planning and building rules cut back to a sustainable level, with less "red and green tape" and administration that actually works, citing his experience in a heavily regulated field.
Party platform: a "two out, one in" regulation rule, a legal decision clock under which late approvals are automatically granted, and genuine community consultation before high-rise development in established suburbs.
Climate and energy transition
Says he will work to keep industrial wind turbines out of the electorate.
Party platform: scrap net-zero targets and subsidies, cancel VNI West and the Western Renewables Link, support coal power upgrades, repeal Victoria's nuclear ban, and ban industrial solar, wind, battery and transmission projects on irrigated, flood-prone, bushfire-prone or water-catchment land.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
No statement of his own found.
Party platform: scrap the Statewide Treaty entirely, abolish Gellung Warl and end its legislated funding, which the booklet puts at about $70 million a year.
Regional and rural Victoria
Wants stronger support for local farming, agriculture, tourism and small business in the hills.
Party platform: a regional roads funding commitment, regional health guarantees, water allocation changes, a rebuilt selective-harvest native timber industry, and protection of farmland from industrial energy and data centre projects.
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.
Keeping industrial wind turbines out of the Monbulk electorate. SSelf-stated — ON-DOWELLOne Nation Victoria, "Adrian Dowell for Monbulk"View source
Infrastructure in the Dandenong Ranges ("the hills") to support local farming, tourism and small business jobs. SSelf-stated — ON-DOWELLOne Nation Victoria, "Adrian Dowell for Monbulk"View source
The One Nation platform proposes a new Magistrates' Court at Pakenham, adjacent to the outer part of the electorate; no Monbulk-specific policy beyond the profile page was found. SSelf-stated — ON-BOOKLETOne Nation Victoria, "The Real Deal: One Nation's Policy Platform (Victorian policy booklet, October 2026)" (2026-10)View source
His profile points (cutting planning and building rules, opposing industrial wind turbines, a focus on regional industry, and curriculum and school-values themes) line up with One Nation Victoria's October 2026 policy booklet "The Real Deal". No divergence from the party platform was found. SSelf-stated — ON-DOWELL, ON-BOOKLETOne Nation Victoria, "Adrian Dowell for Monbulk"View sourceOne Nation Victoria, "The Real Deal: One Nation's Policy Platform (Victorian policy booklet, October 2026)" (2026-10)View source
The booklet's wider commitments (scrapping net-zero targets, repealing the nuclear ban, cancelling the Suburban Rail Loop, scrapping the Statewide Treaty) are not addressed on his own page. SSelf-stated — ON-BOOKLETOne Nation Victoria, "The Real Deal: One Nation's Policy Platform (Victorian policy booklet, October 2026)" (2026-10)View source
Track record & prior candidacies
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
Per the VEC's own funding guidance (accessed 2026-10-11), a candidate is eligible for public funding if elected or if they receive at least 4% of first-preference votes in their contest. Payment is the lower of an amount calculated from first-preference votes received and the candidate's actual eligible expenditure, claimed via an audited statement of expenditure after the election; rates are indexed annually.
Funding for One Nation candidates is paid through the registered party's entitlement based on its endorsed candidates who are elected or reach 4%. The party's candidate disclosures and any donations to this campaign were not found in the sources reviewed.