Legislative Assembly · District of Rowville
Max Williams
Last verified 30 Sept 2026
Seat context — Rowville›
Rowville is a Liberal-held seat in Melbourne's outer east, covering Rowville, Rowville East, Knoxfield, Lysterfield, Lysterfield South, Scoresby and Wantirna South. Kim Wells, first elected to parliament in 1992 and member for this seat since 2014, won it in 2022 with 40.6% of first preferences and 53.7% two-party-preferred against Labor's Mannie Kaur Verma, with independent Nicole Seymour polling 12.1%. Wells announced on 14 September 2025 that he will not recontest, so 2026 is an open contest. The 2026 field found is four candidates: the Liberals' Max Williams, Labor's Muhammad Shahbaz (who also ran here in 2018), the Greens' Dave Massey and the Victorian Socialists' Lars Hiemstra. No One Nation or independent candidate has been found, and Wikipedia's 2026 table leaves Hiemstra's party blank.
Background
The Tally Room describes him as local to the Rowville community. RReported — TALLYROOM-ROWVILLEThe Tally Room, "Rowville — Victoria 2026"View source
Says he is a Rowville local, raised and educated in the area. SSelf-stated — LIBV-MAX-WILLIAMSLiberal Victoria, "Max Williams — Liberal candidate profile" (2 Mar 2026)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.
Names safer roads with less traffic, the cost of living and making home ownership easier as priorities.
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
The Coalition's bail and sentencing policy, per the ABC, would automatically deny bail to reoffenders under a one-strike rule.
Housing affordability and supply
The Coalition would lift the first-home buyer threshold to remove stamp duty on homes up to $1 million, per a housing-policy comparison.
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.
No personal policy statements were retrieved, so most issues are left empty and the two entries above are Coalition policy, not his.
Wikipedia's 2026 candidates table lists him as the Liberal candidate for Rowville. RReported — WIKI-2026CANDSWikipedia, "Candidates of the 2026 Victorian state election"View source
Track record & prior candidacies
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.
Williams has not previously contested this seat. The Liberals' 2022 Rowville candidate polled 40.6%, well above the 4% mark.