Legislative Assembly · District of Pakenham
Raymond French
Last verified 23 Aug 2026
Seat context — Pakenham›
Pakenham becomes an open contest in 2026: sitting Labor MP Emma Vulin, who won the seat on the tightest margin in Victoria at the 2022 election, announced in September 2025 that she will not recontest, citing her 2024 motor neurone disease diagnosis. Labor has preselected Alessandra Soliven, who would become Victoria's youngest-ever MP if elected at 24. The field also includes the Greens' Nasser Yawari, Liberal's Radmila Dyson (selected 19 August 2026 after a contested preselection), Victorian Socialists' Stephanie Grigg, One Nation state leader Warren Pickering, and two independents, Raymond French and Mary-Kate Louis.
Background
Owns and operates a Pakenham-area property-inspection business — registered as The Harry's Group Pty Ltd since December 2012, trading under several related names since 2012 (currently as Harry's Pest Control and, from 2025, Expert Witness Australia) — in the pest control and building/pest inspection space. VVerified — ABN-HARRYSGROUPAustralian Business Register (ABN Lookup), "THE HARRY'S GROUP PTY LTD — ABN 68 161 485 721"View source
Described in local reporting as "a Pakenham business owner and father." RReported — STAR-FRENCHPakenham Officer Star News, "New independent enters the election battleground, claims seat could decide Victoria's next government" (19 June 2026)View source
Elected in January 2024 to Master Builders Victoria's Electoral Council representing the Housing Sub-Contractor sector. VVerified — AEC-E2023155-S1, AEC-E2023155-S2Australian Electoral Commission, "Declaration of Results E2023/155 Stage 1 (Contested Offices)" (11 Jan 2024)View sourceAustralian Electoral Commission, "Declaration of Results E2023/155 Stage 2 (Contested Offices)" (28 Feb 2024)View source
Then elected Chairperson of the Housing Sub-Contractor Sector Committee on 28 February 2024, defeating Howard Hunter 3 votes to 2, per Australian Electoral Commission declarations of the MBV election result. VVerified — AEC-E2023155-S1, AEC-E2023155-S2Australian Electoral Commission, "Declaration of Results E2023/155 Stage 1 (Contested Offices)" (11 Jan 2024)View sourceAustralian Electoral Commission, "Declaration of Results E2023/155 Stage 2 (Contested Offices)" (28 Feb 2024)View source
Stood for re-election to the same chair position in November 2025 and lost to Glenn Jones, 22 votes to 10, in a ballot of the full MBV Electoral Council. VVerified — AEC-E202587-S2, MBV-BOARDAustralian Electoral Commission, "E2025/87 MBAV Stage 2 Declaration of Results (Contested Offices)" (27 Nov 2025)View sourceMaster Builders Victoria, "MBV Board"View source
As of August 2026, MBV's own board page lists the Housing Sub-Contractor Sector Committee chair position as vacant, with French listed only as an ordinary committee member. VVerified — AEC-E202587-S2, MBV-BOARDAustralian Electoral Commission, "E2025/87 MBAV Stage 2 Declaration of Results (Contested Offices)" (27 Nov 2025)View sourceMaster Builders Victoria, "MBV Board"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.
"Payroll tax crushing every small business across Victoria. WorkCover premiums going through the roof."
Calls for stronger IBAC oversight powers and has raised an alleged "missing $15 billion" in Labor government funding.
Proposes a "three-strike" accountability system for judicial bail decisions on repeat offenders.
"I wasn't picked by corporate bosses. I was elected by my peers to stand up for everyday tradies and small business owners" — casting the major parties and One Nation as variations on the same problem.
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
"Payroll tax crushing every small business across Victoria. WorkCover premiums going through the roof."
Calls for abolishing the state's Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund levy.
Crime and community safety
Proposes a "three-strike" accountability system for judicial bail decisions on repeat offenders.
Supports expanded community safety patrols, a Community Safety Infrastructure Fund, and rapid-response graffiti removal, specifically for Pakenham.
Housing affordability and supply
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
State government debt and fiscal management
Calls for strengthening IBAC's oversight powers, including investigating an alleged "missing $15 billion" in Labor government funding.
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
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
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.
Frames Pakenham's marginality as the central campaign issue: "This seat sits on a razor-thin 0.4 per cent margin. Pakenham holds the key to who runs Victoria." SSelf-stated — STAR-FRENCHPakenham Officer Star News, "New independent enters the election battleground, claims seat could decide Victoria's next government" (19 June 2026)View source
Commits to a Community Safety Infrastructure Fund and rapid-response graffiti removal specifically for Pakenham (see crime-safety). SSelf-stated — STAR-FRENCHPakenham Officer Star News, "New independent enters the election battleground, claims seat could decide Victoria's next government" (19 June 2026)View source
Track record & prior candidacies
Describes himself as having "made history as the first-ever housing subcontractor sector chairperson and director in 150 years of Master Builders Victoria history," saying he was "elected by my peers to stand up for everyday tradies and small business owners." SSelf-stated — STAR-FRENCHPakenham Officer Star News, "New independent enters the election battleground, claims seat could decide Victoria's next government" (19 June 2026)View source
Per MBV's own governance materials, the MBV Board is comprised of the office bearers, the chairperson of each sector, and one general board member — meaning the sector-chair role he held carried board membership, which he lost along with the chair title (see background). VVerified — MBV-GOVMaster Builders Victoria, "MBV Governance"View source
States he "blew the whistle to the Fair Work Commission on a multi-million dollar closed loop inside Master Builders Victoria" in 2024, and that "the corporate executives and union bosses changed the internal rules to push me out" as a result. SSelf-stated — STAR-FRENCHPakenham Officer Star News, "New independent enters the election battleground, claims seat could decide Victoria's next government" (19 June 2026)View source
No independent Fair Work Commission decision or matter record naming him was found in a direct search of the FWC's own database and cross-checks via AustLII and Jade.io. SSelf-stated — STAR-FRENCHPakenham Officer Star News, "New independent enters the election battleground, claims seat could decide Victoria's next government" (19 June 2026)View source
This is not unusual, since most FWC matters resolve at conciliation without a published decision — so this account currently rests on his own statement rather than an independent record. SSelf-stated — STAR-FRENCHPakenham Officer Star News, "New independent enters the election battleground, claims seat could decide Victoria's next government" (19 June 2026)View source
MBV's own governance correspondence to the AEC (January 2026) confirms a genuine, documented dispute over how Housing Sub-Contractor sector chair elections were run in both 2024 and 2025. VVerified — MBV-RESP-E202587Master Builders Victoria, "Response to AEC Post-Election Report E2025/87" (15 Jan 2026)View source
It describes an AEC-mandated voting method, where the party's full Electoral Council across all sectors voted for each sector's chair, as "a substantial departure" from the party's intended rules, and states an intention to restrict future sector-chair elections to each sector's own members. VVerified — MBV-RESP-E202587Master Builders Victoria, "Response to AEC Post-Election Report E2025/87" (15 Jan 2026)View source
This independently confirms a real rule dispute around the elections French contested, though it describes a structural voting-method issue affecting all MBV sectors, not an action targeting French specifically. VVerified — MBV-RESP-E202587Master Builders Victoria, "Response to AEC Post-Election Report E2025/87" (15 Jan 2026)View source
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
Independent candidates are eligible for public funding if they receive at least 4% of first-preference votes in their contest, or are elected.
Funding is calculated based on the candidate's audited statement of expenditure for the election, the number of votes received, and the maximum legislated amounts, under the Electoral Act 2002 as reinstated (retrospective to 15 April 2026) by the Electoral Further Amendment Act 2026 following the High Court's invalidation decision (per the VEC's own funding guidance, accessed 2026-08-23).