Legislative Assembly · District of Tarneit
Leah Van Keulen
Last verified 30 Sept 2026
Seat context — Tarneit›
Tarneit is a safe Labor seat in Melbourne's outer south-west covering Tarneit, Truganina and Hoppers Crossing in the north of the City of Wyndham. Dylan Wight, a former Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union organiser, won it in 2022 with 46.6% of first preferences and 62.3% two-party-preferred against the Liberals' Preet Singh, a margin of about 12 points, and is recontesting. The Tally Room notes community frustration over infrastructure lagging population growth, including overcrowding at Tarneit station and the need for a West Tarneit station. The 2026 field found is seven candidates: Wight, the Liberals' Venkat Ram Upparlapalle, the Greens' Rifai A. Raheem, the Victorian Socialists' Leah Van Keulen, the West Party's Andrew Elsbury, the Animal Justice Party's Maurita Rahn and the New Democrats' Jaydeep Patel. Wikipedia's 2026 candidates table has the Liberal and Greens labels shifted for this seat.
Background
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
Better funded public schools and staff conditions, public transport, affordable housing, quality healthcare, accessible community spaces and countering racist politics.
"I believe working-class people are exploited by the existing system, and that we have the power to change things for the better."
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 and a 20% bank profits tax; nothing on cost of living is attributed to Van Keulen personally.
Crime and community safety
Wants racist and divisive politics countered.
Housing affordability and supply
Wants affordable housing.
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
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Wants improved public transport.
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 better funding for public schools and improved conditions for school staff and students, drawing on nine years of teaching.
A summary of the party's education policy says it would provide universal preschool and childcare and end NAPLAN testing.
Health and healthcare access
Wants quality healthcare.
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 Van Keulen 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 Van Keulen 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.
Their priorities match the Victorian Socialists' statewide platform. SSelf-stated — VS-LVK, VS-POLICIES, VS-CANDIDATESVictorian Socialists, "Leah Van Keulen"View sourceVictorian Socialists, "Policies"View sourceVictorian Socialists, "Candidates"View source
No point of divergence was found.
Track record & prior candidacies
Their profile mentions no prior candidacy. SSelf-stated — VS-LVKVictorian Socialists, "Leah Van Keulen"View source
They are not among the candidates in the 2022 Tarneit results; the Victorian Socialists' candidate was Claudio Uribe (5.3%). VVerified — WIKI-TAR-RESWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Tarneit"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.
Van Keulen has not previously contested an election. The Victorian Socialists' 2022 Tarneit candidate polled 5.3%, above the 4% mark.