Legislative Assembly · District of South Barwon
Madilyn Gorman
Last verified 29 Sept 2026
Seat context — South Barwon›
South Barwon is a Labor-held seat on Geelong's southern fringe, taking in fast-growing suburbs such as Armstrong Creek, Charlemont and Mount Duneed. Darren Cheeseman won it in 2022 with 44.2% of first preferences and 59.8% two-party-preferred against the Liberals' Andrew Katos. He was pushed out of the Labor caucus in 2024 over allegations of harassment of a staffer and sits as an independent, and he does not appear on The Tally Room's or Wikipedia's 2026 candidate lists, so the seat is effectively open. The 2026 field is seven candidates: Labor's Rebecca Thistleton, the Liberals' Libby Pettit, the Greens' Izzy Scherrer, One Nation's Josh Geard, the Victorian Socialists' Madilyn Gorman, Socialist Alliance's Freya Hedley and independent Ron Nelson. The Tally Room says an outer-suburban seat with no sitting MP could be vulnerable to One Nation.
Background
Is a trade unionist who has been a union delegate and branch committee member in the healthcare industry. SSelf-stated — VS-MGVictorian Socialists, "Madilyn Gorman"View source
Says she became a socialist over twenty years ago through anti-war activism. SSelf-stated — VS-MGVictorian Socialists, "Madilyn Gorman"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.
Affordable housing expansion, better public transport, more schools and health services, publicly operated aged care and childcare, and more hospital beds.
"I have spent much of my adult life standing up against inequality and injustice."
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
The party's fiscal policy would fund services with a 10% annual wealth tax on billionaires, a 20% bank profits tax and a 20% super-profits tax on retailers earning over $100 million.
Crime and community safety
A summary of the party's policing policy says it would raise the age of criminal responsibility to 16; nothing is attributed to Gorman personally.
Housing affordability and supply
Names affordable housing expansion as a priority.
The party's housing policy would cut all residential rents 25% then freeze them for five years, and build at least 15,000 public housing units a year for ten years.
State government debt and fiscal management
The party's fiscal policy centres on new revenue including a 10% annual billionaire wealth tax; nothing on debt levels is attributed to Gorman.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Names enhanced public transport as a priority.
A summary of the party's transport policy says it would make public transport free.
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 additional schools, better school funding, smaller class sizes and support for children with additional needs, and publicly operated childcare.
Health and healthcare access
Wants more healthcare funding and hospital beds, more health services and publicly operated aged care, drawing on twenty years in the public health system and union delegate work.
A summary of the party's health policy says it would fully fund public healthcare and expand free community clinics.
Urban planning and housing density
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Climate and energy transition
A summary of the party's energy policies says it would move to 100% publicly owned renewable energy; nothing is attributed to Gorman personally.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
A summary of the party's First Nations policy says it wants a treaty with material change beyond symbolic recognition; nothing is attributed to Gorman 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.
Gorman runs on the Victorian Socialists' statewide platform, and her priorities match it. SSelf-stated — VS-MG, VS-POLICIESVictorian Socialists, "Madilyn Gorman"View sourceVictorian Socialists, "Policies"View source
No point of divergence was found.
Track record & prior candidacies
Her profile mentions no prior candidacy. SSelf-stated — VS-MGVictorian Socialists, "Madilyn Gorman"View source
She is not among the candidates in the 2022 South Barwon results; the Victorian Socialists' 2018 candidate was David Ball (0.73%). VVerified — WIKI-SB-RESWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of South Barwon"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.
Gorman has not previously contested an election, so she has no funding entitlement from an earlier contest.