Legislative Assembly · District of Narre Warren North
Lachlan McCracken
Last verified 29 Sept 2026
Seat context — Narre Warren North›
Narre Warren North is a Labor-held outer south-eastern seat. Belinda Wilson won it in 2022, succeeding retiring MP Luke Donnellan, with 46.8% of first preferences and 58.7% to 41.3% two-party-preferred against the Liberals' Timothy Dragan, and is recontesting. The 2026 field is five candidates: Wilson, the Liberals' Shemane Nathanielsz, the Greens' Hayley Perry, One Nation's Sebastian Crutchfield and the Victorian Socialists' Lachlan McCracken. Wikipedia's 2026 candidates table lists these names under the wrong parties and omits Nathanielsz, so parties here follow each party's own pages. An earlier pass recorded that a prospective Liberal candidate resigned from the party in mid-2026 amid a lengthy preselection process.
Background
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
Rental reform and public housing expansion, employment protections and union access, faster family visa processing, emergency housing for domestic violence survivors and Indigenous child welfare.
Says all elected Victorian Socialists pledge to take only a skilled nurse's salary, directing the rest back to communities.
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
Backs employment protections and union access for workers.
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.
Crime and community safety
Names emergency housing for domestic violence survivors as a priority.
Housing affordability and supply
Names rental reform and public housing expansion as his first priority: "Homes for people, not portfolios".
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
The party's fiscal policy centres on new revenue including a 10% annual billionaire wealth tax; nothing on debt levels is attributed to McCracken.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
A summary of the party's transport policy says it would make public transport free; nothing is attributed to McCracken 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
A summary of the party's education policy says it would provide universal preschool and childcare and end NAPLAN testing; nothing is attributed to McCracken 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 McCracken 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 McCracken personally.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Names Indigenous child welfare and family support as a priority.
A summary of the party's First Nations policy says it wants a treaty with material change beyond symbolic recognition.
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.
McCracken runs on the Victorian Socialists' statewide platform, and his priorities match it. SSelf-stated — VS-LM, VS-POLICIESVictorian Socialists, "Lachlan McCracken"View sourceVictorian Socialists, "Policies"View source
No point of divergence was found.
Track record & prior candidacies
His profile mentions no prior candidacy. SSelf-stated — VS-LMVictorian Socialists, "Lachlan McCracken"View source
He is not among the candidates in the 2018 or 2022 Narre Warren North results, where no Victorian Socialists candidate is listed. VVerified — WIKI-NWN-RESWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Narre Warren North"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.
McCracken has not previously contested an election, so he has no funding entitlement from an earlier contest.