Legislative Assembly · District of Pascoe Vale
Anthony Cianflone
Last verified 29 Sept 2026
Seat context — Pascoe Vale›
Pascoe Vale is a Labor seat in Melbourne's inner north, taking in Pascoe Vale, Coburg and parts of Brunswick West, and held by Labor since 1985. Anthony Cianflone won it in 2022 with 38.8% of first preferences and 52.0% to 48.0% against the Greens' Angelica Panopoulos after preferences, and is recontesting. The 2026 field is five candidates: Cianflone, the Greens' Panopoulos (recontesting), the Victorian Socialists' Yasemin Shamsili, Socialist Alliance's Jacob Andrewartha and Family First's Kathrine Ashton. No Liberal candidate has been identified, although the Liberals took 21.0% in 2022. Wikipedia's 2026 candidates table lists several of these names under the wrong parties, so parties here follow each party's own pages.
Background
Says he was born and bred in the electorate, grew up in Coburg as the son of Italian migrants, and lives in Pascoe Vale with his wife and young family. VVerified — CIANFLONE-PARLVICParliament of Victoria, "Anthony Cianflone — Member page"View source
Played for local clubs including Brunswick Juventus and Heidelberg United. RReported — WIKI-CIANFLONEWikipedia, "Anthony Cianflone"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.
Jobs and local employment, transport upgrades, education, health services, community sport, cost-of-living relief, social justice, environmental action and community safety.
Wants to make the community "an even better place to live, learn, work, raise a family and retire in".
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
Names cost-of-living relief and local employment as priorities.
Labor's 2026 platform, as summarised by the Australian Election Tracker, includes a vehicle registration rebate of up to $186, half-price public transport fares from June to December 2026 and free midday electricity from October 2026; nothing is attributed to Cianflone personally.
Crime and community safety
Names community safety among his stated focus areas.
Housing affordability and supply
Labor's platform, as summarised by the Australian Election Tracker, is built around the Big Housing Build; nothing is attributed to Cianflone personally.
State government debt and fiscal management
Labor's platform, as summarised by the Australian Election Tracker, projects operating surpluses of $700 million in 2025-26 and $1 billion in 2026-27; nothing is attributed to Cianflone personally.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Names transport upgrades as a priority.
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
Names education as a priority.
Labor's platform, as summarised by the Australian Election Tracker, includes $5.5 billion of new education investment in 2026-27 and the Free TAFE guarantee.
Health and healthcare access
Names health services as a priority.
Labor's platform, as summarised by the Australian Election Tracker, includes $3.9 billion of new health investment in 2026-27.
Urban planning and housing density
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Climate and energy transition
Names environmental action as a priority.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Labor's platform, as summarised by the Australian Election Tracker, cites implementation of the Statewide Treaty Act 2025; nothing is attributed to Cianflone personally.
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.
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.
As the sitting member, Cianflone met the "elected" limb of the test at the 2022 election, so his Pascoe Vale campaign qualified for public funding.