Legislative Assembly · District of Point Cook
Raja Reddy
Last verified 30 Sept 2026
Seat context — Point Cook›
Point Cook is a Labor-held seat in Melbourne's western growth corridor, created in the 2021 redistribution and first contested in 2022, when Mathew Hilakari won it with 40.0% of first preferences and 58.3% two-party-preferred against the Liberals' Angela Newhouse. He is recontesting, and Wikipedia records him as Parliamentary Secretary for Education since 7 August 2026. The 2026 field is six candidates: Hilakari, the Liberals' Raja Reddy, the Greens' Ponraj Krishna Pandi, One Nation's Cameron Reid, the Victorian Socialists' Taylor Laine and the West Party's Mark Grech.
Background
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
A safer Victoria with 3,000 more police and stronger sentencing laws, and lower costs including a $50 per week toll cap.
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
Backs a $50 per week toll cap to ease cost pressure on families and businesses.
Crime and community safety
The Coalition's bail and sentencing policy, per the ABC, would automatically deny bail to reoffenders under a one-strike rule; nothing is attributed to Reddy personally.
Backs 3,000 more police and stronger sentencing laws, having seen rising crime in Point Cook.
Housing affordability and supply
The Coalition would lift the first-home buyer threshold to remove stamp duty on homes up to $1 million, per a housing-policy comparison; nothing is attributed to Reddy personally.
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
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.
Track record & prior candidacies
A Liberal candidate named Raja Reddy stood in neighbouring Laverton in 2022, receiving 8,233 votes (22.2%); it is likely, but not confirmed, that this is the same person. VVerified — WIKI-LAV22Wikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Laverton"View source
He is not among the candidates in the 2022 Point Cook results; the Liberals' candidate was Angela Newhouse (24.7%). VVerified — WIKI-PC-RESWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Point Cook"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.
If he is the same candidate who stood in Laverton in 2022 he polled 22.2%, above the 4% mark. The Liberals' 2022 Point Cook candidate polled 24.7%.