Legislative Assembly · District of Hawthorn
Kylie Rocha
Last verified 23 Aug 2026
Seat context — Hawthorn›
Hawthorn covers Hawthorn, Hawthorn East and Camberwell, plus parts of Canterbury, Glen Iris and Surrey Hills (~21.01 km²). Traditionally one of the safest Liberal seats in Victoria — it has produced past premiers including Sir William McPherson and Ted Baillieu — though Labor's John Kennedy won it in an upset in 2018 before Liberal leader John Pesutto reclaimed it in 2022. Exact 2022 margin not confirmed in sources reviewed.
Background
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
"We want action to protect our environment, real solutions to tackle affordability and housing stress, and investment in the public services that ensure everyone can live a dignified life."
"Our bills keep rising while billionaires and big corporations make record profits."
"Politics doesn't have to suck. Better things ARE possible. We just need to vote for them."
Calls for "justice for First Nations peoples and Treaty."
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
"Our bills keep rising while billionaires and big corporations make record profits" — a general framing without a specific proposed mechanism attributed to her personally.
Crime and community safety
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Housing affordability and supply
Advocates for "real solutions to tackle affordability and housing stress" — a general commitment without a specific proposed mechanism attributed to her personally.
The Victorian Greens' statewide housing policy — mandatory inclusionary zoning for affordable housing in large developments, renter protections including a no-grounds-eviction ban, and replacing stamp duty with a broad-based land tax — is the party platform behind this priority; not a Rocha-specific elaboration.
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
No direct comment found on the live 2026 Auburn/Glenferrie/Kew Junction and Camberwell Junction activity-centre rezoning in her own electorate (see seat-specific issues), despite it being a significant local planning controversy. Her general "housing stress" framing is the closest tie-in but doesn't name a planning mechanism.
The Victorian Greens' statewide planning policy supports higher-density development concentrated in activity centres near transit, paired with stronger heritage-protection laws — directly relevant to her own electorate's activity-centre rezoning, though not a personal statement from her.
Climate and energy transition
Cites her background as "an engineer with experience in energy and manufacturing sectors" working on "innovative and sustainable solutions" — professional framing rather than a stated policy position — alongside a general call for "action to protect our environment."
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Calls for "justice for First Nations peoples and Treaty" — her most concrete single-issue statement, using the word "Treaty" explicitly where the party's own First Nations policy page favours broader self-determination language.
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.
The Victorian Government introduced new planning controls on 31 March 2026 for the Hawthorn, Glenferrie, Auburn and Kew Junction activity centres — a Built Form Overlay allowing towers of 10–20 storeys near stations, tapering to 3–6 storeys in the surrounding streets — alongside a separate Camberwell Junction activity-centre project. VVerified — VIC-PLANNING-HTK, BOR-AC-UPDATEVictorian Government Department of Transport and Planning, "Hawthorn, Glenferrie, Auburn and Kew Junction — activity centre program" (31 Mar 2026)View sourceCity of Boroondara, "Activity Centre updates: Kew and Hawthorn"View source
No direct comment from Rocha on this live local controversy was found in sources reviewed. VVerified — VIC-PLANNING-HTK, BOR-AC-UPDATEVictorian Government Department of Transport and Planning, "Hawthorn, Glenferrie, Auburn and Kew Junction — activity centre program" (31 Mar 2026)View sourceCity of Boroondara, "Activity Centre updates: Kew and Hawthorn"View source
No divergence from Victorian Greens statewide platform found — her public statements on cost of living, housing stress, environmental action, corporate accountability and Treaty track directly onto existing party policy. VVerified — GRN-KRAustralian Greens Victoria, "Kylie Rocha, Candidate for Hawthorn"View source
As a first-time candidate with no distinct campaign apparatus of her own, this reads as straightforward alignment rather than a deliberate personal platform. VVerified — GRN-KRAustralian Greens Victoria, "Kylie Rocha, Candidate for Hawthorn"View source
Track record & prior candidacies
Contested the 2022 Victorian state election as the Australian Greens' fourth-placed candidate on the party's group ticket for Southern Metropolitan Region (Legislative Council), receiving 906 first-preference votes (0.19%). Not elected — the region's Greens seat went to lead candidate Katherine Copsey. VVerified — VEC-SMET22, WIKI-SMET, GFT-HAW22Victorian Electoral Commission, "Southern Metropolitan Region results — 2022 state election results"View sourceWikipedia, "Electoral results for the Southern Metropolitan Region"View sourceThe Glen Ferrie Times, "State Election: Hawthorn Candidates"View source
This 2026 Hawthorn candidacy follows a different Greens candidate, Nick Savage, who contested Hawthorn in 2022, confirming Rocha is new to this specific seat rather than continuing an existing local campaign. VVerified — VEC-SMET22, WIKI-SMET, GFT-HAW22Victorian Electoral Commission, "Southern Metropolitan Region results — 2022 state election results"View sourceWikipedia, "Electoral results for the Southern Metropolitan Region"View sourceThe Glen Ferrie Times, "State Election: Hawthorn Candidates"View source
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
Eligible for public election funding if she receives at least 4% of first-preference votes in Hawthorn, or is elected. Funding is then calculated from her audited campaign-expenditure statement, first-preference vote count, and legislated maximums, under the Electoral Act 2002 as reinstated and amended by the Electoral Further Amendment Act 2026 (per the VEC's own funding guidance, accessed 2026-08-23).