Legislative Assembly · District of Lowan
Jos Downey
Last verified 11 Oct 2026
Seat context — Lowan›
Lowan is the state's largest electorate by area (about 41,858 square kilometres) in Victoria's west, covering Horsham, Hamilton, Casterton, Dimboola, Nhill, Kaniva, Coleraine, Dartmoor, Jeparit and Rainbow, with 51,182 registered electors at the 2022 election. It is one of the safest Nationals-held seats in the state: sitting MP Emma Kealy won 59.0% of first preferences and 71.6% two-party-preferred against Labor in 2022. As of late September 2026 The Tally Room lists only Kealy and Family First's Lee Ann Elms, while the Greens' Jeff Moran has a party candidate page. A former Horsham councillor, Claudia Haenel, was reported in July 2026 as likely to be Labor's candidate but was not confirmed, and no Liberal candidate has been identified.
Background
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
A "universal living guarantee" so that life's essentials are accessible, affordable and accountable.
Treating housing, healthcare, education and food as human rights rather than investments.
Better wages and conditions for agricultural, healthcare and education workers.
Bringing energy and water back from private ownership, and running aged care, child care and public transport for human need rather than private profit.
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
Says "it's disgraceful that corporations and billionaires get richer" while living costs bite, and is "fighting for a universal living guarantee."
Party platform: a $35 minimum wage on government-funded work, immediate caps on electricity and gas bills via public takeover, cost-price food hubs and supermarket price caps (the party's homepage cites $100 price-capped trolleys).
Crime and community safety
No candidate-specific statement found. Party platform: redirect police budget increases into public housing, youth and social services; treat addiction as a health issue with harm reduction, legalisation, regulation and more public drug treatment; defend the right to protest.
Housing affordability and supply
Candidate says housing should be a human right rather than an investment.
Party platform: a five-year rent freeze, 150,000 new public homes, a ban on property hoarding, a state bank offering below-market home loans, an end to public land sales, and guaranteed public housing for pensioners.
State government debt and fiscal management
No candidate-specific statement on state debt. Party platform: tax the wealth of billionaires and banks to fund services, and cap MPs' wages at $96,000. The party material does not address debt levels directly.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Candidate says public transport should be run for human need rather than profit.
Party platform: reverse the privatisation of public transport, make it free, and upgrade regional rail services.
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
Candidate lists education as a human right and wants cuts to education reversed, with better pay and conditions for education workers; also describes university campaigning.
Party platform: free, quality public education, universal preschool and free public childcare five days a week, more teachers and smaller classes, an end to NAPLAN, and abolishing university fees and student debt. TAFE is not specifically addressed.
Health and healthcare access
Candidate wants cuts to healthcare reversed, shorter public healthcare waitlists, and better pay and conditions for healthcare workers.
Party platform: universal free healthcare, more hospital beds and staff, more free community health clinics, re-funding public disability services, and a ban on for-profit aged care.
Urban planning and housing density
No candidate-specific statement found, and little relevance to a large rural seat. Party platform: plan cities for people rather than profit and require developers to fund local community amenities.
Climate and energy transition
Candidate wants to dramatically expand emergency services, move rapidly to sustainable energy, and end government handouts to corporations that Downey argues worsen climate damage.
Party platform: 100% publicly owned renewable energy, a zero-carbon economy by 2035 with no new fossil fuel projects, an end to old-growth logging, and an end to energy privatisation.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Candidate opposes scapegoating of migrants and Indigenous people, naming figures such as Pauline Hanson. No statement found on the Statewide Treaty or Gellung Warl.
Party platform: treaty should bring "material change" rather than symbolic recognition.
Regional and rural Victoria
Candidate grew up in rural Western Victoria and wants better wages and conditions for agricultural workers, and energy and water returned from private ownership.
Party platform: rebuild regional transport, secure sustainable jobs, end the exploitation of rural workers, and end live export.
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
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
Eligible for public funding if Downey receives at least 4% of first-preference votes in Lowan, or is elected, per the VEC's funding guidance for independent candidates and registered parties (accessed 2026-10-11). Funding is paid per first-preference vote and is capped at the campaign's audited expenditure, so it is claimed after the election on an audited expenditure statement.
The VEC notes its registered-party funding page is under review following the Electoral Further Amendment Bill 2026, so party-level rules may change; the 2022 rate for Assembly candidates was about $6.49 per vote. No VEC donation disclosures were found for Downey.