Legislative Assembly · District of South-West Coast
Tamhas Buchan
Last verified 11 Oct 2026
Seat context — South-West Coast›
South-West Coast covers about 6,576 km² of south-western Victoria in the Barwon South West region, centred on Warrnambool and taking in Portland, Port Fairy, Koroit, Heywood and Macarthur. Created in 2002 to replace the former Portland and Warrnambool seats, it is, per Wikipedia, 'ancestrally Liberal territory' and has been held by the Liberal Party continuously since Denis Napthine's narrow 0.7%-margin win amid Labor's 2002 landslide. Roma Britnell (Liberal) has held the seat since winning a 2015 by-election triggered by Napthine's resignation, and retained it comfortably at the 2022 election with 58.0% of the two-candidate-preferred vote to Labor's 42.0% (a 16-point margin, a swing of +4.8 points on 2018). The 2026 field found is five candidates: Britnell, Labor's Andrew Govanstone, the Greens' Silver Rose, the Victorian Socialists' Hera Sheppard and One Nation's Richard Hughes. In 2022 independent Carol Altmann polled 14.4%, but no independent has been found for 2026. Wikipedia's 2026 candidates table lists Sheppard as Animal Justice, which the party's own page contradicts.
Background
His Family First candidate page says he is a small business owner who helps other small businesses get more leads and sales online. SSelf-stated — FF-BUCHANFamily First Party Australia, "Tamhas Buchan - Candidate for South-West Coast"View source
The Western Victoria Brolga's 2026 candidate guide likewise describes him as having a background as a small business owner. RReported — WESTVIC-GUIDEThe Western Victoria Brolga, "Who can I vote for across Western Victoria at the 2026 Victorian election?"View source
A Melbourne digital marketing agency, Boostable, markets website, local SEO and review services, and its site and customer reviews credit a 'Tamhas' with building websites and doing SEO. Neither the party page nor the agency's page states that this is the same person, so the link is an inference from the matching description rather than a confirmed fact. SSelf-stated — BOOSTABLEBoostable Marketing Agency, "Boostable - Digital Marketing Agency Melbourne"View source
Says he grew up in country Victoria and has since lived in Melbourne, Sydney, China and Hong Kong. SSelf-stated — FF-BUCHANFamily First Party Australia, "Tamhas Buchan - Candidate for South-West Coast"View source
Sources reviewed do not say where in country Victoria he grew up or where he lives now, and no specific tie to the South-West Coast electorate was found.
Says he is a husband and a father of three. SSelf-stated — FF-BUCHANFamily First Party Australia, "Tamhas Buchan - Candidate for South-West Coast"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.
Family First's own profile of him leads with 'families are the future, and families must be able to survive', and with making it easier for young people to start families without fear.
Opposes bank-created money and interest, 'taxes on taxes', and soaring power and fuel bills, which he attributes to being 'forbidden from using our own natural resources'.
Wants no foreign ownership of housing, farmland or other assets, and fewer immigrants arriving more slowly (skilled people and genuine refugees only), with illegal immigrants and immigrant criminals deported.
Also lists the right to life (opposing abortion and euthanasia), free speech and faith, protecting children, respecting parents, privacy for citizens and 'open books for government'.
The Western Victoria Brolga's guide summarises his platform as tighter restrictions on foreign ownership of housing, a slower rate of immigration, and lower government taxes and household energy prices.
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
Blames household cost pressure on banks creating money and charging interest on it, governments 'putting taxes on taxes', and power and fuel bills driven up by restrictions on using domestic natural resources.
The Western Victoria Brolga's guide reports him as backing lower government taxes and lower household energy prices.
Party policy: raise the tax-free threshold to $30,000, allow income splitting for married couples, and fund lower income tax from natural-resource revenue. These are federal tax measures, and the party page does not say he has adopted them.
Crime and community safety
Wants 'illegal immigrants and immigrant criminals' deported. No Victorian policing, bail or youth-justice position by him was found.
Party policy: enforce drug supply and possession laws, close drug injecting centres, and weight youth justice towards compulsory rehabilitation rather than prison for first offences.
Housing affordability and supply
States that 'housing is for Australians': no foreign ownership of housing or farmland, and temporary residents and people overseas should not own housing here.
Links housing to immigration: 'everyone must be housed', and if too many arrive too fast they cannot mix and blend. Wants fewer immigrants, arriving more slowly.
Party policy: release more land, cut red and green tape on new homes, support modular housing, extend the first home buyers grant to existing houses, and ban further foreign ownership of land and houses where the privilege is not reciprocated.
State government debt and fiscal management
Wants 'open books for government' and objects to 'taxes on taxes'. No statement by him on Victorian state debt specifically was found.
Party policy: put governments on a path to fiscal responsibility by tackling debt, reduce the size of government and defund unnecessary programs.
Family First's Victorian candidate information sheet criticises the major parties over 'record and unprecedented state debt'.
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
Lists protecting children from 'radical indoctrination' as a theme and says to 'protect children, respect parents'. No specific school-funding or curriculum position by him was found.
Party policy: parents as primary educators, freedom to choose state, faith-based or home education, a back-to-basics curriculum, school chaplaincy, and removing gender-identity material from school curricula.
Health and healthcare access
States a 'right to life' stance, saying a country that 'kills the unborn and its elderly because life is inconvenient is heading for extinction' (a reference to abortion and euthanasia). No position on hospitals, GP access or ambulance performance was found.
Party policy: fund crisis pregnancy centres, make adoption easier, ban surrogacy, require informed consent with an ultrasound and cooling-off period for abortion, and oppose euthanasia.
Urban planning and housing density
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Climate and energy transition
Says power and fuel bills are soaring 'because we are forbidden from using our own natural resources, which are sold to foreign governments'. No more detailed personal energy position was found.
Party policy: end Net Zero targets, abolish renewable subsidies, keep all coal-fired power stations open and reopen closed ones, lift gas exploration restrictions, green-light nuclear power and ban subsidised wind and solar on farmland and native forest.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
No statement by him on the Statewide Treaty or Gellung Warl was found. Party policy would discontinue Acknowledgement of Country and Welcome to Country ceremonies and fly only one national flag; it does not address Treaty directly.
Regional and rural Victoria
Says he grew up in country Victoria. Party policy would encourage new industries and manufacturing in regional areas and protect primary production, but no regional or rural position specific to him or to the South-West Coast was found.
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.
His stated positions on foreign ownership of housing, reduced immigration, natural-resource use, opposition to abortion and euthanasia, free speech and faith match Family First's national policy pages (Housing, Australia First, Economic, Pro Life). SSelf-stated — FF-BUCHAN, FF-POLICY-HOUSING, FF-POLICY-AUSFIRSTFamily First Party Australia, "Tamhas Buchan - Candidate for South-West Coast"View sourceFamily First Party Australia, "Housing Policy"View sourceFamily First Party Australia, "Australia First Policy"View source
No point of divergence from the party was found. Most issue positions above are national party policy, not statements by him. SSelf-stated — FF-BUCHAN, FF-POLICY-ECONFamily First Party Australia, "Tamhas Buchan - Candidate for South-West Coast"View sourceFamily First Party Australia, "Economic Policy"View source
Family First's Victorian candidates page carries no Victorian-specific policy detail for this seat; Family First's published Victorian-election material found was an energy policy and a candidate information sheet.
Track record & prior candidacies
He is not among the candidates in the 2018 or 2022 South-West Coast results. Family First's 2022 candidate there was Chris Brunt, who polled 2.0% (924 votes). VVerified — WIKI-SWC-RESWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of South-West Coast"View source
His party page describes him as a candidate for this seat in 2026 and mentions no earlier candidacy, and no prior candidacy was found in web searches. SSelf-stated — FF-BUCHANFamily First Party Australia, "Tamhas Buchan - Candidate for South-West Coast"View source
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
Per the Victorian Electoral Commission's funding guidance (vec.vic.gov.au independent-candidate and registered-party funding pages, accessed 2026-10-11 via search snippets), 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 paid per first-preference vote, capped at actual eligible expenditure, and any funding received must be repaid in full if the threshold is missed.
The VEC's indexation page lists $7.70 per lower-house vote for 2026-27. The VEC also notes changes to Victorian political finance laws under the Electoral Further Amendment Act 2026, so the rates should be confirmed before relying on them.
Family First's 2022 South-West Coast candidate polled 2.0%, below the 4% mark, and he has not previously contested a state election.