Legislative Council · North-Eastern Metropolitan Region
Gianni Del Rosario-Makridis
Last verified 11 Oct 2026
Seat context — North-Eastern Metropolitan Region›
North-Eastern Metropolitan elects 5 MLCs and comprises 11 Legislative Assembly districts spanning Melbourne's inner-eastern suburbs (Bulleen, Doncaster) north across the Yarra to Lower Plenty and Eltham, and across to Bayswater, Croydon and the Dandenong Ranges — Bayswater, Box Hill, Bulleen, Bundoora, Croydon, Eltham, Glen Waverley, Ivanhoe, Mill Park, Ringwood and Warrandyte. Renamed from Eastern Metropolitan Region at the 2022 election. A bill abolishing group voting tickets for the Council has passed the Assembly and is before the Legislative Council's 11–13 August sitting.
Background
Describes himself as a "leading scientist inside the medicinal cannabis industry." SSelf-stated — LC-ROSARIOMAKRIDISLegalise Cannabis Victoria, "Gianni Del Rosario-Makridis - Candidate for North-Eastern Metropolitan"View source
A February 2024 podcast episode bio listed him as a graduate researcher at La Trobe University and a Medical Science Liaison at Novachem (a medicinal cannabis distributor), a former cultivator at Cann Group and owner of CannabisNews.au. No dates were given for those roles and they were not cross-checked against employer records, so his current employment is unconfirmed. RReported — AUSCANNA-S1E3AusCannaReviews (Substack), "The AusCannaPodcast S1 E3" (22 Feb 2024)View source
Party profile says he lived for a time with local communities in the hills and valleys of Ecuador, where he learned about native medicinal plants, after about a decade working in the city ("the big smoke") and selling his business. SSelf-stated — LC-ROSARIOMAKRIDISLegalise Cannabis Victoria, "Gianni Del Rosario-Makridis - Candidate for North-Eastern Metropolitan"View source
The party profile does not state how long he has lived in the North-Eastern Metropolitan Region or any community ties there. SSelf-stated — LC-ROSARIOMAKRIDISLegalise Cannabis Victoria, "Gianni Del Rosario-Makridis - Candidate for North-Eastern Metropolitan"View source
Holds a PhD (styled "Dr") and describes himself as the first PhD graduate of La Trobe University's ARC Research Hub for Medicinal Agriculture, specialising in medicinal cannabis, after retraining as a plant scientist. SSelf-stated — LC-ROSARIOMAKRIDIS, LC-HELPGIANNILegalise Cannabis Victoria, "Gianni Del Rosario-Makridis - Candidate for North-Eastern Metropolitan"View sourceLegalise Cannabis Victoria, "Help Dr Gianni Del Rosario-Makridis Bring Cannabis Science to Parliament"View source
A February 2024 podcast bio described his La Trobe PhD, on cannabis trichome genetics, as "currently under examination" at that time, which is consistent with the later claim of completion. RReported — AUSCANNA-S1E3AusCannaReviews (Substack), "The AusCannaPodcast S1 E3" (22 Feb 2024)View source
No La Trobe thesis record or university page confirming the award or its date was retrieved, so the qualification rests on his own and the party's statements. He is not a registered health practitioner on the evidence found, so no AHPRA check applies. SSelf-stated — LC-ROSARIOMAKRIDISLegalise Cannabis Victoria, "Gianni Del Rosario-Makridis - Candidate for North-Eastern Metropolitan"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.
A state-licensed, properly regulated adult-use cannabis market that, in his words, creates jobs, raises revenue and stops treating ordinary Victorians like criminals.
Evidence, science and "common sense" at the heart of cannabis policy; says he wants to bring cannabis science to Parliament.
Scrutinising government waste, starting with what the party profile calls the "missing $4.9 million cannabis driving trial nobody asked for."
Defending the North East Metro's tree canopy from "rushed housing mandates."
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
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Crime and community safety
Calls for a state-licensed adult-use cannabis market so that "everyday people" are no longer treated like criminals; says healthy adults should not have to choose between an unfit medical pathway and the black market.
Cites the $4.9 million cannabis driving trial as an example of government waste. No driving-law reform detail is given in his own words.
Party-level, not his own statement: Legalise Cannabis Victoria argues a regulated market would undercut organised crime and cut enforcement spending, citing a Penington Institute paper and a figure of $1,900 per cannabis arrest.
Housing affordability and supply
Opposes "rushed housing mandates" that he says threaten the North East Metro's tree canopy. No housing-supply or affordability policy is stated.
State government debt and fiscal management
Says a licensed adult-use market would inject much-needed revenue into the Victorian economy; no revenue figure is given.
Says he will scrutinise government waste, naming the $4.9 million cannabis driving trial.
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
Argues the medicinal cannabis pathway "was never intended to serve as a backdoor for adult use" and is not fit for purpose for healthy adults.
Frames his candidacy around evidence and science in cannabis policy, drawing on his research training in medicinal cannabis.
Party-level, not his own statement: Legalise Cannabis Victoria campaigns to protect medicinal cannabis patients from losing their jobs over workplace drug tests and from roadside-testing penalties when unimpaired.
Urban planning and housing density
Defends the tree canopy of the North-Eastern Metropolitan area against "rushed housing mandates"; no position on zoning, density or consultation is detailed.
Climate and energy transition
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
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.
His central themes (a regulated adult-use cannabis market, medicinal cannabis patients' rights, and the driving-trial criticism) track Legalise Cannabis Victoria's own campaigning; the party's driving-trial criticism is documented on its news page. No divergence from the party line was found. SSelf-stated — LC-ROSARIOMAKRIDIS, LC-DRIVINGLegalise Cannabis Victoria, "Gianni Del Rosario-Makridis - Candidate for North-Eastern Metropolitan"View sourceLegalise Cannabis Victoria, "Victorian Government Swinburne University Driving Trial Update"View source
The party's sitting MLC David Ettershank moved the second reading of the Cannabis Legalisation Plebiscite Bill 2026 in the Legislative Council on 29 July 2026; debate was adjourned. This is a party record, not an action of this candidate. VVerified — HANSARD-PLEBParliament of Victoria, "Cannabis Legalisation Plebiscite Bill 2026 - 29 July (Legislative Council)" (29 July 2026)View source
The tree-canopy and housing-mandate stance does not appear in the party pages reviewed and appears to be candidate-specific. SSelf-stated — LC-ROSARIOMAKRIDISLegalise Cannabis Victoria, "Gianni Del Rosario-Makridis - Candidate for North-Eastern Metropolitan"View source
Track record & prior candidacies
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
Per the Victorian Electoral Commission's funding guidance for independent candidates and registered parties (vec.vic.gov.au, accessed 2026-10-11 via search results), a candidate is eligible for public election funding if they receive at least 4% of first-preference votes in their contest, or are elected. Payment is the lower of an amount calculated from first-preference votes and the actual eligible expenditure shown in an audited statement.
The VEC notes some of these pages are under review following the Electoral Further Amendment Act 2026, so the rule and indexed rates should be re-checked after the election. For a Council candidate the contest is the region-wide vote; a party's funding is calculated at party level.