Legislative Council · Western Victoria Region
Peter Mitchell
Last verified 11 Oct 2026
Seat context — Western Victoria Region›
Western Victoria elects 5 MLCs and comprises 11 Legislative Assembly districts across Geelong and Victoria's south-west — Bellarine, Eureka, Geelong, Lara, Lowan, Melton, Polwarth, Ripon, South Barwon, South-West Coast and Wendouree. A bill abolishing group voting tickets for the Council has passed the Assembly and is before the Legislative Council's 11–13 August sitting.
Background
Describes themself as a proud father and grandfather who has lived in the Otways for the past 18 years. SSelf-stated — LC-MITCHELLLegalise Cannabis Victoria, "Peter Mitchell - Candidate for Western Victoria"View source
Party profile describes friends as calling them kind, compassionate, funny, generous, community minded and tenacious — a characterisation published by the party itself. SSelf-stated — LC-MITCHELLLegalise Cannabis Victoria, "Peter Mitchell - Candidate for Western Victoria"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.
Party profile says they strongly believe in what the party stands for: civil liberties, privacy, human rights, personal freedoms, anti-discrimination and tolerance, and compassion.
Names legalisation and regulation of cannabis and hemp for medicinal, recreational, agricultural, food and construction purposes as a core aim.
Identifies as a medicinal cannabis patient and says they are aware of the quality-of-life benefits as well as the stigma and misinformation around it.
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
No candidate-specific statement on policing or bail found. The party profile frames cannabis reform around civil liberties and anti-discrimination, and criticises stigma and misinformation.
Party position, not the candidate's own words: on 19 November 2025 Legalise Cannabis MLC David Ettershank moved a Legislative Council motion urging the government to decriminalise personal cannabis use and possession as a first step.
In that speech Ettershank said about 4,000 Victorians are arrested each year for cannabis possession and that prohibition falls hardest on Aboriginal and working-class people; these are his claims.
Housing affordability and supply
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
State government debt and fiscal management
Party position, not the candidate's own words: in the November 2025 motion debate Ettershank argued revenue from a regulated cannabis market could fund mental health, alcohol and other drug services, WorkCover/WorkSafe, housing, Indigenous health and part of the NDIS, citing a Parliamentary Budget Office estimate of about $1 billion a year; the claim is his.
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
Speaks from personal experience as a medicinal cannabis patient, citing the benefits and quality of life it has provided; no specific health-funding or access policy stated.
Party position, not the candidate's own words: on 31 July 2024 Ettershank moved a motion seeking a legal defence for medicinal cannabis patients charged with THC presence while driving if unimpaired and taking it as prescribed; Labor amended it to require the government to consider a proposal and report back by October 2024.
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
Lists agricultural, food and construction uses of hemp and cannabis among the purposes they want legalised and regulated; no specific regional policy detail given.
Has lived in the Otways, in the Western Victoria region, for 18 years.
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.
Describes themself as strongly believing in what Legalise Cannabis Victoria stands for; no point of divergence from the party found. SSelf-stated — LC-MITCHELLLegalise Cannabis Victoria, "Peter Mitchell - Candidate for Western Victoria"View source
Party context: on 29 July 2026 Ettershank introduced the Cannabis Legalisation Plebiscite Bill 2026 in the Legislative Council, proposing a non-binding statewide plebiscite on legalising cannabis on the model in the 2023 personal adult use bill (possession, home growing of up to six plants, gifting; no legal market). The bill does not change cannabis law itself. VVerified — HANSARD-PLEB26Parliament of Victoria, "Hansard, Legislative Council, 29 July 2026 — Cannabis Legalisation Plebiscite Bill 2026" (29 July 2026)View source
No candidate-specific policy on the other issue areas (cost of living, housing, infrastructure, education, urban planning, climate and energy, Treaty) was found. SSelf-stated — LC-MITCHELLLegalise Cannabis Victoria, "Peter Mitchell - Candidate for Western Victoria"View source
Track record & prior candidacies
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
Per the VEC's funding pages (accessed 2026-10-11), a candidate or party qualifies for public funding by receiving at least 4% of first-preference votes or being elected; funding is paid per first-preference vote, at 2026-27 rates the VEC lists as $7.70 for lower house and $3.84 for upper house candidates, indexed each year.
A recipient who contests but neither is elected nor reaches 4% must repay the funding received. The VEC notes recent changes to Victoria's political finance laws (Electoral Further Amendment Act 2026), so current rules should be confirmed with the VEC. For a Legislative Council region, how the threshold is applied to a party's ticket was not confirmed.