Legislative Assembly · District of Pascoe Vale
Kathrine Ashton
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
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
Says she is a strong advocate for family values, believing "the family unit is the foundation of a stable and thriving society".
Wants protection of life from conception, traditional family values, religious freedom and an end to "harmful gender ideologies" in schools.
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
Wants to oppose what she calls harmful gender ideologies in schools.
Health and healthcare access
Wants protection of life from conception.
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.
Her stated positions follow Family First's faith-and-family platform. SSelf-stated — FF-ASHTON-2026, FF-VIC2026Family First Party Australia, "Kathrine Ashton, Candidate for Pascoe Vale"View sourceFamily First Party Australia, "Victorian Election (2026 candidates)"View source
Party positions on cost of living, housing and infrastructure could not be retrieved, so those issues are left empty.
Track record & prior candidacies
A Family First candidate named Kathrine Ashton stood in Northcote in 2022, receiving 0.9%; it is likely, but not confirmed, that this is the same person. VVerified — WIKI-NC22Wikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Northcote"View source
Her profile does not mention prior campaigns.
She is not among the candidates in the 2018 or 2022 Pascoe Vale results; Family First's 2022 candidate was Richard Cimbaro (2.7%). VVerified — WIKI-PV-RESWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Pascoe Vale"View source
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.
Ashton has not previously contested a Pascoe Vale election. Her likely 2022 Northcote result (0.9%) was below the 4% mark, as was Family First's 2022 Pascoe Vale result (2.7%).