Legislative Assembly · District of Eltham
Maeve Riches
Last verified 29 Sept 2026
Seat context — Eltham›
The Eltham district covers Melbourne's north-eastern suburbs including Eltham, Eltham North, St Helena, Lower Plenty, Montmorency, Diamond Creek and Wattle Glen, plus parts of Greensborough and Briar Hill, spanning about 73 km² in the North-Eastern Metropolitan Region. Labor's Vicki Ward held the seat at the 2022 election with a two-party-preferred margin of 9.0% over the Liberal candidate. The district was created ahead of the 1992 election and was initially won by the Liberal Party, before Labor regained it at the 2002 election and has held it continuously since. The 2026 field is five candidates: Labor's Vicki Ward, the Liberals' Paul Byrnes, the Greens' Rachel Busbridge, the Victorian Socialists' Maeve Riches and One Nation's Jessie Weatherley. At the 2022 election Ward won 44.5% of first preferences and 59.0% two-party-preferred.
Background
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
Affordable housing, robust public services and ending fossil fuel subsidies.
Opposing militarism and AUKUS, supporting LGBTQIA+ rights and refugee advocacy, Palestinian solidarity, and opposing the far right.
"Everyone should have the chance to live a decent life, and in a wealthy country like Australia that's not a far flung dream."
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
Puts "people before profit", and says everyone should have the chance to live a decent life.
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
A summary of the party's policing policy says it would raise the age of criminal responsibility to 16; nothing is attributed to Riches personally.
Housing affordability and supply
Names affordable housing as a priority.
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
The party's fiscal policy centres on new revenue including a 10% annual billionaire wealth tax; nothing on debt levels is attributed to Riches.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
A summary of the party's transport policy says it would make public transport free; nothing is attributed to Riches personally.
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 Riches personally.
Health and healthcare access
Names robust public services as a priority.
A summary of the party's health policy says it would fully fund public healthcare and expand free community clinics.
Urban planning and housing density
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Climate and energy transition
Wants an end to fossil fuel subsidies and is involved in climate activism.
A summary of the party's energy policies says it would move to 100% publicly owned renewable energy.
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 Riches 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.
Riches runs on the Victorian Socialists' statewide platform, and their priorities match it. SSelf-stated — VS-MR, VS-POLICIESVictorian Socialists, "Maeve Riches"View sourceVictorian Socialists, "Policies"View source
No point of divergence was found.
Track record & prior candidacies
Their profile mentions no prior candidacy. SSelf-stated — VS-MRVictorian Socialists, "Maeve Riches"View source
They are not among the candidates in the 2018 or 2022 Eltham results, where no Victorian Socialists candidate is listed. VVerified — WIKI-ELTHAM-RESWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Eltham"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.
Riches has not previously contested an election, so they have no funding entitlement from an earlier contest.