Legislative Assembly · District of South Barwon
Rebecca Thistleton
Last verified 29 Sept 2026
Seat context — South Barwon›
South Barwon is a Labor-held seat on Geelong's southern fringe, taking in fast-growing suburbs such as Armstrong Creek, Charlemont and Mount Duneed. Darren Cheeseman won it in 2022 with 44.2% of first preferences and 59.8% two-party-preferred against the Liberals' Andrew Katos. He was pushed out of the Labor caucus in 2024 over allegations of harassment of a staffer and sits as an independent, and he does not appear on The Tally Room's or Wikipedia's 2026 candidate lists, so the seat is effectively open. The 2026 field is seven candidates: Labor's Rebecca Thistleton, the Liberals' Libby Pettit, the Greens' Izzy Scherrer, One Nation's Josh Geard, the Victorian Socialists' Madilyn Gorman, Socialist Alliance's Freya Hedley and independent Ron Nelson. The Tally Room says an outer-suburban seat with no sitting MP could be vulnerable to One Nation.
Background
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
Strong public healthcare and childcare access, quality local schools, managing growth in South Barwon with adequate services, and jobs, skills and economic fairness.
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 jobs, skills and economic fairness as priorities.
Labor's 2026 platform, as summarised by the Australian Election Tracker, includes a vehicle registration rebate of up to $186, half-price public transport fares from June to December 2026 and free midday electricity from October 2026; nothing is attributed to Thistleton personally.
Crime and community safety
Labor's platform, as summarised by the Australian Election Tracker, includes the 2025 bail law changes; nothing is attributed to Thistleton personally.
Housing affordability and supply
Labor's platform, as summarised by the Australian Election Tracker, is built around the Big Housing Build; nothing is attributed to Thistleton personally.
State government debt and fiscal management
Labor's platform, as summarised by the Australian Election Tracker, projects operating surpluses of $700 million in 2025-26 and $1 billion in 2026-27; nothing is attributed to Thistleton personally.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Wants adequate services alongside growth in South Barwon.
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
Names quality local schools and childcare access as priorities.
Labor's platform, as summarised by the Australian Election Tracker, includes $5.5 billion of new education investment in 2026-27 and the Free TAFE guarantee.
Health and healthcare access
Names strong public healthcare as a priority.
Labor's platform, as summarised by the Australian Election Tracker, includes $3.9 billion of new health investment in 2026-27.
Urban planning and housing density
Wants growth in South Barwon managed with adequate services and community opportunities.
Climate and energy transition
Labor's platform, as summarised by the Australian Election Tracker, targets 65% renewables by 2030 and 95% by 2035; nothing is attributed to Thistleton personally.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Labor's platform, as summarised by the Australian Election Tracker, cites implementation of the Statewide Treaty Act 2025; nothing is attributed to Thistleton 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.
Track record & prior candidacies
No earlier election candidacy was verified; an earlier note about a 2022 federal run for Melbourne is contradicted by that seat's published results.
She is not among the candidates in the 2018 or 2022 South Barwon results; Labor's candidate at both was Darren Cheeseman (37.25% in 2018, 44.2% in 2022). VVerified — WIKI-SB-RESWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of South Barwon"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.
Thistleton has not previously contested a state election. Labor's 2022 South Barwon candidate polled 44.2% and won the seat.