Yan Yean — Victoria 2026: who holds it, who is announced, where they stand

Sitting member

Lauren KathageLabor · sitting member

Announced candidates · 5

Andrew BellOther / minor party · candidate
Amanda DowLiberal · candidate
Jeremy JohnsonOne Nation · candidate
Gufran MohammedGreens · candidate
Sinan OkatanOther / minor party · candidate

A sitting member is shown here whether or not they are recontesting: this page records who holds the seat and who has been announced, not the ballot. Candidates are listed alphabetically, not in ballot order.

Key dates · Victoria 2026 · from the Victorian Electoral Commission

Tue 3 Nov, 8 pmEnrolment closesYou need to be correctly enrolled by 8 pm on Tuesday 3 November to vote.2026 state election ↗
Wed 4 Nov, 9 am – Mon 9 Nov, 12 noonCandidate nominationsNominations open at 9 am on Wednesday 4 November and close at 12 noon on Monday 9 November.2026 state election ↗
Wed 4 Nov – Wed 25 Nov, 6 pmPostal vote applicationsAnyone can apply to vote by post. Applications open on Wednesday 4 November and close at 6 pm on Wednesday 25 November.Voting options ↗
Tue 17 Nov, 10 am to 4 pmLow-sensory votingA quieter voting session in each district, for neurodivergent voters and voters with sensory needs.Voting options ↗
Wed 18 Nov – Fri 27 NovEarly voting9 am to 6 pm every day except Sunday 22 November. You don't need a reason to vote early.Voting options ↗
Sat 28 NovElection dayVote at any voting centre in Victoria.Voting options ↗

The candidates on this site are those announced so far. The commission confirms the ballot after nominations close.

How to vote here · from the Victorian Electoral Commission

When you go to vote, you'll be given ballot papers for the district and region you're enrolled in. 2026 state election ↗
On the smaller lower house ballot paper, number every box in the order of your choice. How to fill out state ballot papers ↗

Last election · 2022 State election

Elected: KATHAGE, Lauren (Australian Labor Party - Victorian Branch).

First preferences
Candidate	Party	Votes	%
KATHAGE, Lauren	Australian Labor Party - Victorian Branch	16,328	41.42%
WELCH, Richard	Liberal	13,361	33.89%
MASON, Samantha	Australian Greens	2,537	6.44%
WOOLDRIDGE, Jack	Labour DLP	2,028	5.14%
HALL, James	Family First Victoria	1,284	3.26%
PARRAMORE, Ruth	Animal Justice Party	1,043	2.65%
KRSTIC, Alexandar	Shooters, Fishers & Farmers Vic	1,024	2.60%
BOUROUTZIS, Con	Freedom Party of Victoria	1,021	2.59%
GRIMLEY, Mandy Anne	Derryn Hinch's Justice Party	793	2.01%

After the distribution of preferences
Candidate	Party	Votes	%
KATHAGE, Lauren	Australian Labor Party - Victorian Branch	19,771	50.16%
WELCH, Richard	Liberal	15,059	38.20%
HALL, James	Family First Victoria	4,589	11.64%

Enrolment 47,327 · formal 39,419 · informal 2,475 · total 41,894

As the Victorian Electoral Commission published it (VEC results ↗). Parties are those the candidates stood for then; a member may have changed party since. The 2021 redivision of Victoria's State electoral boundaries came into effect on 1 November 2022 and will remain in place until the writ for the 2030 State election is issued, unless triggered sooner. Electoral Boundaries Commission ↗

Where they stand, issue by issue

Each entry is that person's own stated view, with its sources. The badge says what kind of source backs it — official record, own statement, news report or encyclopedia — which describes the evidence, not how much we believe it. Nothing is totalled or ranked; recorded votes are counted only to point to the member's record, where each is listed. See methodology.

Economy & tax

Lauren KathageLabor · sitting

No statement on file.

13 recorded votes on this issue on their record

Gufran MohammedGreens own statement

Gufran Mohammed backs "A cap on the price of the basics" that "applies at every supermarket, including the one you already shop at".

Gufran Mohammed on Instagram, 17 October 2026

No sourced position on record: Andrew Bell, Amanda Dow, Jeremy Johnson, Sinan Okatan.

Drugs & law and order

Lauren KathageLabor · sitting

No statement on file.

20 recorded votes on this issue on their record

Amanda DowLiberal own statement

Amanda Dow says “Access to police shouldn’t be on scheduled days or by appointment”, and that a Jess Wilson Liberal government “will reopen Mernda Police Station.”

Amanda Dow on Instagram, 17 October 2026

Gufran MohammedGreens own statement

Gufran Mohammed says "We’ve nearly doubled what we spend on police in a decade and nobody feels any safer", points to station connectors in Frankston, and says "Spend it on what actually works."

Gufran Mohammed on Instagram, 14 October 2026

No sourced position on record: Andrew Bell, Jeremy Johnson, Sinan Okatan.

Native forest logging

Lauren KathageLabor · sitting official record

Voted aye on 30 May 2024 on an amendment moved during the Legislative Assembly's consideration of the Sustainable Forests (Timber) Repeal Bill 2024, which repealed the Sustainable Forests (Timber) Act 2004 following the cessation of native forest logging on 1 January 2024. The question was 'That the words proposed to be omitted stand part of the question' (Legislative Assembly, 30 May 2024; Ayes 53, Noes 24; agreed to): an aye vote kept the words the amendment proposed to omit. It was a vote on the amendment, not on the bill.

Hansard, Legislative Assembly, 2024-05-30

No sourced position on record: Andrew Bell, Amanda Dow, Jeremy Johnson, Gufran Mohammed, Sinan Okatan.

Housing & planning

Lauren KathageLabor · sitting

No statement on file.

9 recorded votes on this issue on their record

Amanda DowLiberal own statement

Amanda Dow says “Yan Yean is much more than suburbs - it’s why we need to protect the Green Wedge.”

Amanda Dow on Instagram, 30 September 2026

Gufran MohammedGreens own statement

Gufran Mohammed's account says rent rises would be "Capped at wage growth or inflation, whichever is lower", which "means the rent can never climb faster than the pay".

Gufran Mohammed on Instagram, 21 October 2026

No sourced position on record: Andrew Bell, Jeremy Johnson, Sinan Okatan.

Education

Lauren KathageLabor · sitting

No statement on file.

1 recorded vote on this issue on their record

Gufran MohammedGreens own statement

Says that as a business manager at a school he argued the school had to spend its own money to identify a child with a disability so that disability funding would come, and that he lost that job.

Gufran Mohammed - Greens candidate for Yan Yean (archived copy)

No sourced position on record: Andrew Bell, Amanda Dow, Jeremy Johnson, Sinan Okatan.

Transport & infrastructure

Lauren KathageLabor · sitting

No statement on file.

3 recorded votes on this issue on their record

Amanda DowLiberal own statement

Amanda Dow’s Liberal profile says she will “deliver the road upgrades growing communities like Yan Yean deserve, like the complete duplication of Donnybrook Road.”

Gufran MohammedGreens own statement

Gufran Mohammed says "Nobody in Mernda has ever told me the trains are fine" and calls to "Make it free for good, run the trains and trams more often, and send the buses where people actually need to go."

Gufran Mohammed on Instagram, 14 October 2026

No sourced position on record: Andrew Bell, Amanda Dow, Jeremy Johnson, Gufran Mohammed, Sinan Okatan.

Environment & water

Lauren KathageLabor · sitting

No statement on file.

2 recorded votes on this issue on their record

No sourced position on record: Andrew Bell, Amanda Dow, Jeremy Johnson, Gufran Mohammed, Sinan Okatan.

No one here has a sourced position on record on: welfare & social services, abortion & reproductive policy, sex work decriminalisation, nuclear & uranium, animal welfare.

Open Yan Yean in the interactive database · All electorates