Legislative Assembly · District of Broadmeadows
Sue Bolton
Last verified 23 Sept 2026
Seat context — Broadmeadows›
The Legislative Assembly district of Broadmeadows covers roughly 47 km² in Melbourne's outer north, including Broadmeadows, Campbellfield, Coolaroo, Dallas, Fawkner, Jacana and Meadow Heights, plus parts of Glenroy, Roxburgh Park, Somerton and Westmeadows. It is one of Labor's safest seats, held by the party for almost all of its history since the district's creation in 1955. At the 2022 election Kathleen Matthews-Ward won it for Labor with 51.94% after distribution of preferences against the Liberal candidate.
Background
Described on her official Merri-bek Council profile as "a former bus and truck driver and public servant." VVerified — MERRIBEK-BOLTONMerri-bek City Council, "Mayor and Councillors (Sue Bolton profile)"View source
Before council, worked as a bus driver (six years, including on hospital buses), truck driver, cleaner, public servant, fruit picker, and as a journalist for Green Left Weekly. RReported — GLW-2012PROFILEGreen Left Weekly, "New councillor Sue Bolton: dedicated feminist, driven socialist activist" (1 Nov 2012)View source
Socialist Alliance's own 2022 candidate page for her (then running in Pascoe Vale) describes her as "an ex-bus driver" and "a trade unionist." SSelf-stated — SA-PASCOEVALE2022Socialist Alliance, "Sue Bolton for Pascoe Vale" (2022)View source
Has served four terms on Moreland/Merri-bek City Council since first elected in 2012 — the Socialist Alliance's first Victorian councillor — detailed further in Track Record. VVerified — WP-SOCALLIANCE, WP-2012LOCALELECTIONSWikipedia, "Socialist Alliance (Australia)"View sourceWikipedia, "2012 Victorian local elections"View source
As a bus driver in the 1980s/90s was active in the Automobile, Tramway, Motor Omnibus Employees Union, and was also a member of the Amalgamated Metals, Foundry and Shipwrights' Union during a period working in a metal factory. RReported — GLW-2012PROFILEGreen Left Weekly, "New councillor Sue Bolton: dedicated feminist, driven socialist activist" (1 Nov 2012)View source
Has held internal Socialist Alliance roles including Victorian convenor and National Executive member (as of 2012), and is stated by Wikipedia to be a national co-convenor of the party as of 2024 — not independently corroborated on the party's own current About page; see Track Record for the full discrepancy note. RReported — GLW-2012PROFILE, WP-SOCALLIANCEGreen Left Weekly, "New councillor Sue Bolton: dedicated feminist, driven socialist activist" (1 Nov 2012)View sourceWikipedia, "Socialist Alliance (Australia)"View source
Her current ward, Bababi Djinanang, covers Fawkner and parts of Coburg North — Fawkner sits directly within the Broadmeadows electorate. VVerified — GLW-2024COUNCILGreen Left, "Sue Bolton: We need a council that stands up for people" (3 May 2024)View source
Led a 2021 community campaign that stopped Merri-bek Council closing the outdoor pool at Fawkner Leisure Centre during a redesign. RReported — GLW-2024GAZAGreen Left, "Councillor Sue Bolton: The Gaza war affects us here" (20 Sept 2024)View source
Has campaigned on the environmental cleanup of a toxic site in Fawkner where Agent Orange herbicide was formerly manufactured, opposing inappropriate redevelopment of the site. RReported — GLW-2024GAZAGreen Left, "Councillor Sue Bolton: The Gaza war affects us here" (20 Sept 2024)View source
Has led Merri-bek Council motions on Gaza — including opposing Israel's military actions and ending council contracts with companies linked to the Israeli military — and organised local pro-Palestine rallies. RReported — GLW-2024GAZA, GLW-2024COUNCILGreen Left, "Councillor Sue Bolton: The Gaza war affects us here" (20 Sept 2024)View sourceGreen Left, "Sue Bolton: We need a council that stands up for people" (3 May 2024)View source
Has also campaigned locally for new playgrounds, public toilets and a dog park, and against privatising waste collection and in-home aged-care services. VVerified — MERRIBEK-BOLTON, GLW-2024COUNCILMerri-bek City Council, "Mayor and Councillors (Sue Bolton profile)"View sourceGreen Left, "Sue Bolton: We need a council that stands up for people" (3 May 2024)View source
A 2012 profile describes her as active in refugee rights, Aboriginal rights, anti-war and union solidarity campaigning since the late 1970s, across Queensland, Sydney and Melbourne before settling in Melbourne in the early 2000s. RReported — GLW-2012PROFILEGreen Left Weekly, "New councillor Sue Bolton: dedicated feminist, driven socialist activist" (1 Nov 2012)View source
In 2026 has focused on anti-racism organising specifically in Broadmeadows, headlining a local rally and speaking about countering rising One Nation support in the area. RReported — GLW-2026RADIOGreen Left, "Green Left Radio: Sue Bolton on fighting racism and One Nation" (2 July 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.
Government must commit to a massive expansion of public housing amid the cost-of-living and housing crises.
"It is shameful that Jacinta Allan's government is destroying and privatising what remains of public housing in the inner city."
Aims to counter the racist lie that migration is the cause of the housing crisis, and to counter rising support for One Nation in Broadmeadows.
Points to her record — saving the Fawkner outdoor pool and winning council support to end contracts with companies supporting the Israeli military — as evidence of working with residents to help them stand up for their rights.
Her Merri-bek councillor profile lists climate action, housing and cost-of-living challenges, emergency relief support, public housing advocacy, and accessibility improvements among her stated council focus areas.
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
"Right now, in cost-of-living and housing crises, we need government to commit to a massive expansion of public housing."
Her council profile lists "cost-of-living challenges" and "emergency relief support" among her stated priority areas as councillor.
Crime and community safety
Discussed rising support for One Nation in the Broadmeadows area and strategies to counter it, in a Green Left Radio interview broadcast in June 2026.
Spoke about the community rally "Unite Against Racism — Migrants Are Welcome," held in Broadmeadows in July 2026, framing anti-racism organising as a community-safety response to far-right activity.
Housing affordability and supply
"It is shameful that Jacinta Allan's government is destroying and privatising what remains of public housing in the inner city."
Says the party aims to counter "the racist lie that migration is the cause of the housing crisis."
Calls for a massive expansion of public housing amid the cost-of-living and housing crises.
Her council profile lists housing and public housing advocacy among her stated councillor priority areas.
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
Points to having "saved the outdoor pool" at Fawkner Leisure Centre as a council win.
Her council profile describes community engagement around playground development, public facilities, and environmental protection efforts.
States she opposes attempts to remove the community's right to have a say over development, a stated commitment to planning consultation rights on her council profile.
Climate and energy transition
Her council profile lists climate action as a stated priority area for her council work.
Party platform (not confirmed as her own added emphasis): calls for 100% renewable energy within 5–10 years via public investment, phasing out fossil fuels with no new coal or gas projects and guaranteed jobs for affected workers.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Sits on Merri-bek City Council's First Peoples Advisory Committee.
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.
Saved the outdoor pool at Fawkner Leisure Centre from closure — Fawkner sits within the Broadmeadows electorate under her current Bababi Djinanang ward. SSelf-stated — SA-BROADMEADOWSSocialist Alliance, "Sue Bolton for Broadmeadows"View source
Won council support to end Merri-bek Council contracts with companies supporting the Israeli military, cited on her Broadmeadows candidate page as a local win. SSelf-stated — SA-BROADMEADOWSSocialist Alliance, "Sue Bolton for Broadmeadows"View source
Headlined the "Unite Against Racism — Migrants Are Welcome" community rally in Broadmeadows in July 2026, organised partly in response to rising local One Nation support. SSelf-stated — GLW-2026RADIOGreen Left, "Green Left Radio: Sue Bolton on fighting racism and One Nation" (2 July 2026)View source
Has a community-engagement record around playground development and public facilities in her ward, which covers part of the Broadmeadows electorate. VVerified — MERRIBEK-BOLTONMerri-bek City Council, "Mayor and Councillors (Sue Bolton profile)"View source
Has campaigned on the environmental cleanup of a toxic former Agent Orange manufacturing site in Fawkner, opposing inappropriate redevelopment given the contamination. RReported — GLW-2024GAZAGreen Left, "Councillor Sue Bolton: The Gaza war affects us here" (20 Sept 2024)View source
Socialist Alliance's national platform calls for a "Housing First" approach — large-scale public housing, nationalising substandard landlord holdings, a "use it or lose it" vacant-dwelling policy, ten-year private rent caps, and public/social rents capped at 20% of income. SSelf-stated — SA-POLICYSocialist Alliance, "Policy platform"View source
Her own housing statements track this closely but are more locally pointed, framed against Allan government inner-city public housing demolitions and privatisation specifically rather than the abstract national platform. RReported — GLW-2026CONTEST, SA-POLICYGreen Left, "Socialist Alliance to contest northern suburbs seats in Vic election" (29 May 2026)View sourceSocialist Alliance, "Policy platform"View source
Her four-term Merri-bek council record — the Fawkner pool save, the Israeli-military-contract motion, a First Peoples Advisory Committee seat, and playground/public-facilities advocacy — gives her concrete local wins a first-time candidate wouldn't have, going beyond generic party-platform lines. RReported — MERRIBEK-BOLTON, SA-BROADMEADOWSMerri-bek City Council, "Mayor and Councillors (Sue Bolton profile)"View sourceSocialist Alliance, "Sue Bolton for Broadmeadows"View source
Several structured issues above (education, urban planning, climate/energy) have no Victoria-specific state platform page on the party's own site — its policy content is national in scope.
Track record & prior candidacies
First elected to then-Moreland City Council in the 2012 Victorian local elections (27 October 2012), representing North-East Ward — the Socialist Alliance's first Victorian councillor. VVerified — WP-SOCALLIANCE, WP-2012LOCALELECTIONSWikipedia, "Socialist Alliance (Australia)"View sourceWikipedia, "2012 Victorian local elections"View source
Re-elected to North-East Ward in 2016 and 2020, then elected in 2024 to the newly created Bababi Djinanang Ward (covering Fawkner and parts of Coburg North) under Merri-bek's redistricted 11-ward structure — now serving her fourth, current term as a sitting councillor while contesting this state election simultaneously. VVerified — WP-MERRIBEK, GLW-2024COUNCILWikipedia, "City of Merri-bek"View sourceGreen Left, "Sue Bolton: We need a council that stands up for people" (3 May 2024)View source
Fawkner, her current ward, sits within the Broadmeadows electorate she is now contesting — unlike most of this seat, which falls under Hume City Council, not Merri-bek.
Has never served as Mayor or Deputy Mayor of Moreland/Merri-bek Council. VVerified — WP-MERRIBEKWikipedia, "City of Merri-bek"View source
Currently sits on Merri-bek Council's CEO Employment and Remuneration Matters Committee, First Peoples Advisory Committee, and Disability Reference Group. VVerified — MERRIBEK-BOLTONMerri-bek City Council, "Mayor and Councillors (Sue Bolton profile)"View source
As of her 2012 council election, held internal Socialist Alliance roles — Victorian convenor, National Executive member, and national convenor of the party's trade union work — after earlier serving as a branch secretary for the Democratic Socialist Party, a predecessor organisation; these are 2012-era roles, not confirmed current. RReported — GLW-2012PROFILEGreen Left Weekly, "New councillor Sue Bolton: dedicated feminist, driven socialist activist" (1 Nov 2012)View source
Wikipedia states that, as of February 2024, she was one of Socialist Alliance's national co-convenors alongside Jacob Andrewartha and Sam Wainwright; this could not be corroborated on the party's own current About page, which describes her only as its "one elected local councillor" with no co-convenor title mentioned — flagged as unresolved rather than settled. RReported — WP-SOCALLIANCEWikipedia, "Socialist Alliance (Australia)"View source
Led Merri-bek Council motions taking a stand on Gaza, including opposing Israel's military actions and ending council contracts with companies linked to the Israeli military, and has organised local pro-Palestine rallies. RReported — GLW-2024COUNCIL, GLW-2024GAZAGreen Left, "Sue Bolton: We need a council that stands up for people" (3 May 2024)View sourceGreen Left, "Councillor Sue Bolton: The Gaza war affects us here" (20 Sept 2024)View source
Led a 2021 community campaign that stopped Merri-bek Council closing the outdoor pool at Fawkner Leisure Centre during a redesign. RReported — GLW-2024GAZAGreen Left, "Councillor Sue Bolton: The Gaza war affects us here" (20 Sept 2024)View source
Has campaigned against the redevelopment of a site in Fawkner formerly used to manufacture Agent Orange herbicide, opposing what she has called inappropriate redevelopment given the site's contamination. RReported — GLW-2024GAZAGreen Left, "Councillor Sue Bolton: The Gaza war affects us here" (20 Sept 2024)View source
On council, has also campaigned locally for new playgrounds, new public toilets and a new dog park, and against privatising waste collection and in-home aged-care services. VVerified — MERRIBEK-BOLTON, GLW-2024COUNCILMerri-bek City Council, "Mayor and Councillors (Sue Bolton profile)"View sourceGreen Left, "Sue Bolton: We need a council that stands up for people" (3 May 2024)View source
Stood as the Socialist Alliance candidate for the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Pascoe Vale at the 2022 state election. VVerified — WP-PASCOEVALEWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Pascoe Vale"View source
Received 1,689 first-preference votes (4.2%), finishing 5th of 8 candidates; Labor's Anthony Cianflone won the seat with 15,611 votes (38.8%) first preferences. VVerified — WP-PASCOEVALEWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Pascoe Vale"View source
Stood as the Socialist Alliance candidate for the federal Division of Wills at the 2025 Australian federal election. VVerified — WP-WILLSWikipedia, "Division of Wills"View source
Received 8,808 votes (8.02% primary), a swing of +5.13 points on the prior election — the largest primary-vote share Socialist Alliance has recorded in Wills. VVerified — WP-WILLSWikipedia, "Division of Wills"View source
No record found of any other prior candidacy beyond her four Moreland/Merri-bek council terms (2012, 2016, 2020, 2024), the 2022 Pascoe Vale run, and the 2025 Wills run. VVerified — SA-BROADMEADOWSSocialist Alliance, "Sue Bolton for Broadmeadows"View source
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
Sue Bolton would be eligible for Victorian state election public campaign funding if she receives at least 4% of first-preference votes in Broadmeadows, or is elected. Funding is then calculated as the lesser of her audited campaign-expenditure statement or the statutory per-vote maximum — currently $7.70 per first-preference vote for Legislative Assembly candidates — indexed annually on 1 July per the Consumer Price Index.
Because Socialist Alliance is not currently a VEC-registered political party — confirmed against the VEC's own currently-registered-parties list, which includes Victorian Socialists (a separate, distinct party) but not Socialist Alliance — Bolton is contesting Broadmeadows without the ballot-paper party grouping or registered-party administrative pathway that registration confers. Any public funding for which she qualifies would be paid to her personally or an associated entity rather than through a registered party structure, and she will appear on the ballot without a party logo. This matches an identical finding for Socialist Alliance's Bellarine candidate in a prior research pass, indicating the party's non-registration is a statewide fact, not specific to one seat (per the VEC's own funding and registered-parties guidance, accessed 2026-09-23).