The Public Ledger
Australian politicians on record.

Legislative Assembly · District of Ringwood

Prue Cutts

Last verified 29 Sept 2026

Independent

No occupation outside council was found in the sources reviewed.

Candidate photo — pending
Seat context — Ringwood›
Illustration pending

Ringwood covers about 35 square kilometres of Melbourne's east, including Heathmont, Mitcham, Forest Hill, Vermont, Nunawading, Ringwood East and parts of Blackburn. Labor has held it since 2018. Will Fowles won it in 2022 with 39.0% of first preferences and 57.5% two-party-preferred against the Liberals' Cynthia Watson, then left the Labor caucus in 2023 and has sat as an independent since 2024; local coverage reports he is not recontesting, so the seat has no incumbent candidate. The 2026 field found is five candidates: Labor's Rachel Halse, the Liberals' Nick McGowan (a sitting Legislative Council member), the Greens' Amy Mills, the Victorian Socialists' Jack Gardner and independent Prue Cutts. Wikipedia's 2026 candidates table lists Gardner as One Nation, which conflicts with the Victorian Socialists' own page.

Identity & ballot position§ 01
House
Legislative Assembly
Seat
Ringwood
Incumbent
No
Party
Independent
Ballot position
Not yet assigned
§ 02

Background

Occupation / profession
No occupation outside council was found in the sources reviewed.
Prior public roles
Has been a Whitehorse City councillor since 2016, with two terms as deputy mayor. RReported — EM-GUIDE, VOD-CUTTSEastern Melburnian, "Who are the candidates in this year's state election across Melbourne's eastern suburbs?"View sourceVoices of Deakin, "Prue Cutts, independent candidate for Ringwood"View source
Local ties
Says she has lived, worked and raised her family in the community for over 35 years. SSelf-stated — VOD-CUTTSVoices of Deakin, "Prue Cutts, independent candidate for Ringwood"View source
Education
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
§ 03

Platform

Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.

Stated top campaign priorities

Cost of living, housing affordability, healthcare, education and community safety, with a commitment to genuine constituent representation.

"I make my vote on the basis of what I believe is a good outcome."

SSelf-stated — VOD-CUTTSVoices of Deakin, "Prue Cutts, independent candidate for Ringwood"View sourceSSelf-stated — EM-GUIDEEastern Melburnian, "Who are the candidates in this year's state election across Melbourne's eastern suburbs?"View source

What Victorians say matters most

5 poll-led issues

Cost 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

iWhat this coversPosition on everyday household costs — groceries, utilities, insurance, transport.
Candidate’s priority3 / 10

Names cost of living among her focus areas.

SSelf-stated — VOD-CUTTSVoices of Deakin, "Prue Cutts, independent candidate for Ringwood"View source

Crime and community safety

iWhat this coversPosition on crime rates, policing and community safety, including youth crime and bail law.
Candidate’s priority3 / 10

Names community safety among her focus areas.

SSelf-stated — VOD-CUTTSVoices of Deakin, "Prue Cutts, independent candidate for Ringwood"View source

Housing affordability and supply

iWhat this coversPosition on home ownership costs, rental affordability, and housing supply/planning.
Candidate’s priority3 / 10

Names housing affordability among her focus areas.

SSelf-stated — VOD-CUTTSVoices of Deakin, "Prue Cutts, independent candidate for Ringwood"View source

State government debt and fiscal management

iWhat this coversPosition on debt levels and what they mean for future taxes and service funding.
Candidate’s priority0 / 10

Not detailed in sources reviewed.

Infrastructure and public transport delivery

iWhat this coversPosition on congestion, commute reliability, and cost/timeline overruns on major projects.
Candidate’s priority0 / 10

Not detailed in sources reviewed.

Also on the record

6 substance issues

These don't top “biggest issue” polling, but carry real 2026 policy weight and genuine differences between parties.

Education and training

iWhat this coversPosition on school funding and infrastructure, curriculum and teaching quality, university funding and research, and TAFE/VET.
Candidate’s priority3 / 10

Names education among her focus areas.

SSelf-stated — VOD-CUTTSVoices of Deakin, "Prue Cutts, independent candidate for Ringwood"View source

Health and healthcare access

iWhat this coversPosition on hospital and clinic funding, GP/specialist access and wait times, and ambulance performance including ramping.
Candidate’s priority3 / 10

Names healthcare among her focus areas.

SSelf-stated — VOD-CUTTSVoices of Deakin, "Prue Cutts, independent candidate for Ringwood"View source

Urban planning and housing density

iWhat this coversPosition on zoning and density, heritage and consultation processes, urban sprawl versus infill, and access to parks and green space.
Candidate’s priority0 / 10

Not detailed in sources reviewed.

Climate and energy transition

iWhat this coversPosition on renewable energy targets, offshore wind delivery, transmission infrastructure, and the reinstated State Electricity Commission.
Candidate’s priority0 / 10

Not detailed in sources reviewed.

Treaty and First Nations affairs

iWhat this coversPosition on implementing the Statewide Treaty and the new Gellung Warl representative body, and on future local treaties.
Candidate’s priority0 / 10

Not detailed in sources reviewed.

Regional and rural Victoria

iWhat this coversPosition on water security, the native-forest-logging transition, road and service funding, and population decline in country towns.
Candidate’s priority0 / 10

Not detailed in sources reviewed.

Local & party context

2 fields

Not 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.

Seat-specific issues
No Ringwood-specific policy of hers was found beyond the general priorities above.
Party platform alignment

She is an independent with no party platform, and her stated priorities are general; no detailed policy positions were found.

Local coverage presents her as a genuine alternative to the major parties. RReported — EM-GUIDEEastern Melburnian, "Who are the candidates in this year's state election across Melbourne's eastern suburbs?"View source

V VerifiedS Self-statedR Reported— hover or tap any mark for what it means
§ 04

Track record & prior candidacies

Terms served
Whitehorse City councillor since 2016, with two terms as deputy mayor. RReported — EM-GUIDE, VOD-CUTTSEastern Melburnian, "Who are the candidates in this year's state election across Melbourne's eastern suburbs?"View sourceVoices of Deakin, "Prue Cutts, independent candidate for Ringwood"View source
Portfolios held
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Notable votes, bills, committee work
No individual council decision is singled out in the sources reviewed.
Previous candidacies
She is not among the candidates in the 2022 Ringwood results. VVerified — WIKI-RING-RESWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Ringwood"View source
§ 05–08

Campaign, money & endorsements

Campaign logistics

Website
No dedicated campaign website found.
Social
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Contact
Not publicly listed / not independently confirmed for this campaign.
How-to-vote card
Not yet published

Endorsements & Donations

Organisational
Endorsed as an independent candidate for Ringwood by Voices of Deakin, a community-led group in the Community Independents Project that says it supports independents free from party politics, donors and lobbyists. SSelf-stated — VOD-CUTTSVoices of Deakin, "Prue Cutts, independent candidate for Ringwood"View source
Individual
None reported in sources reviewed.
VEC disclosure
Not yet available.
Public funding

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.

Cutts has not previously contested a state election, so she would qualify only by polling 4% or more in Ringwood or being elected.

Dataset housekeeping

Nomination status
Expected — A Whitehorse City Council councillor (Simpson Ward, since 2016; two terms as Deputy Mayor), endorsed as an independent candidate for Ringwood by the community group Voices of Deakin (announced 26 July 2026 per Eastern Melburnian); corroborated by Tally Room commentary. Not on the project's original breadth-pass candidate list — added to the roll via this research pass.
Last verified
29 Sept 2026
Sources
See the Source register below — every V/S/R mark on this page names its specific source on hover.

Source register

EM-GUIDE
Eastern Melburnian, “Who are the candidates in this year's state election across Melbourne's eastern suburbs?” — News outlet — View source · accessed 29 Sept 2026
VOD-CUTTS
Voices of Deakin, “Prue Cutts, independent candidate for Ringwood” — Endorsing organisation — View source · accessed 29 Sept 2026
WIKI-RING-RES
Wikipedia, “Electoral results for the district of Ringwood” — Encyclopedia (crowdsourced) — View source · accessed 29 Sept 2026