Legislative Assembly · District of Northcote
Kath Larkin
Last verified 29 Sept 2026
Seat context — Northcote›
Northcote is Victoria's most marginal Labor seat. Labor's Kat Theophanous won it in 2018 from the Greens, who had won a 2017 by-election after the death of Labor MP Fiona Richardson. At the 2022 election she won 40.6% of first preferences and beat the Greens' Campbell Gome 50.2% to 49.8% after preferences, a margin of 184 votes. Both are recontesting. The 2026 field is five candidates: Theophanous, Gome, the Liberals' Lynda Awad, the Victorian Socialists' Kath Larkin (also a 2022 candidate) and the Libertarian Party's Jim Penman. The Tally Room says the Greens would hope a slumping Labor vote lets them win.
Background
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
Protecting and extending green spaces, public housing and rent freezes, reversing privatisation of essential services, opposing the far right and supporting community spaces such as Preston Market.
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
Names reversing privatisation of essential services as a priority.
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
Opposes far-right mobilisation and has organised locally against far-right groups.
Housing affordability and supply
Wants public housing built and rents frozen, and is a renter herself.
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
Wants to reverse privatisation of essential services.
The party's fiscal policy centres on new revenue including a 10% annual billionaire wealth tax.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Worked for nearly a decade as a railway worker and union delegate.
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 Larkin 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 Larkin personally.
Urban planning and housing density
Wants green spaces protected and extended and supports community spaces such as Preston Market.
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 Larkin 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 Larkin personally.
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.
Larkin runs on the Victorian Socialists' statewide platform, and her priorities match it. SSelf-stated — VS-BIO-LARKIN, VS-POLICIESVictorian Socialists, "Kath Larkin"View sourceVictorian Socialists, "Policies"View source
No point of divergence was found.
Track record & prior candidacies
She was the Victorian Socialists' candidate for Northcote in 2022, receiving 2,776 votes (6.5%). VVerified — WIKI-NC-RESWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Northcote"View source
Her 2026 party profile as retrieved says no prior candidacy is mentioned and does not refer to the 2022 campaign.
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.
Larkin polled 6.5% in Northcote in 2022, above the 4% mark, so that campaign qualified for public funding.