Legislative Assembly · District of Nepean
Tamara Champion
Last verified 30 Sept 2026
Seat context — Nepean›
Nepean is a Liberal-held Mornington Peninsula seat that had an eventful year. Sam Groth, who won it in 2022 with 48.1% of first preferences and 56.4% two-party-preferred against Labor's Chris Brayne, resigned on 13 February 2026 citing public pressure on his family during a defamation dispute. At the 2 May 2026 by-election, which Labor did not contest, the Liberals' Anthony Marsh won with 38.7% of first preferences and 63.2% to 36.8% against independent Tracee Hutchison; One Nation's Darren Hercus polled 24.5% and the Greens' Sianan Healy 9.4%. The 2026 field so far is four candidates: Marsh, Hercus, Healy and Family First's Mike Brown; no Labor candidate is listed and Hutchison does not appear on The Tally Room's list. The Tally Room says the Liberals are favourites to retain the seat.
Background
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
Animal welfare and stronger protections across industries, environmental conservation and habitat protection, bushland restoration and threatened ecosystems, and community wellbeing linked to environmental health.
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
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Housing affordability and supply
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
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
Wants threatened ecosystems preserved.
Climate and energy transition
Names environmental conservation, habitat protection and bushland restoration as priorities.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Regional and rural Victoria
Wants stronger animal welfare protections across industries.
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.
Her priorities are animal protection themes consistent with the Animal Justice Party's platform; no party platform document was retrieved. SSelf-stated — AJP-TCAnimal Justice Party Victoria, "Tamara Champion"View source
Wikipedia's 2026 candidates table lists her under the South-Eastern Metropolitan Council region rather than Nepean; the party's own page names Nepean. RReported — WIKI-2026CANDSWikipedia, "Candidates of the 2026 Victorian state election"View source
Track record & prior candidacies
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.
Champion has not previously contested a state election on her page's account, and the Animal Justice Party's earlier results in Nepean were not retrieved.