Labor

Status & organisation

The party is registered as “Australian Labor Party – Victorian Branch”. It first registered on 26 March 1985 and re-registered on 3 October 2024, with Efstratios Steven Staikos as registered officer in Docklands VEC . Ben Carroll has led the party, and been Premier, since 28 July 2026. The Left faction has historically dominated the party room, though Carroll sits on the Right. Labor holds 56 Assembly seats, down to 54 after caucus expulsions and retirements, and 15 Council seats Election Tracker . In 2022 it won 56 seats on a primary vote that collapsed in safe western seats Wikipedia .

Current position (2026)

Labor is campaigning defensively, with “no Coalition seats in its sights” ABC . It polls about 24–25% primary and runs third behind the Coalition and One Nation in Redbridge, at 24 to 30 to 24 AFR . It leads One Nation 55–45 on two-party terms but trails the Coalition 56–44 Poll Bludger . Carroll says “One Nation terrifies me.” He frames the election as a choice to stop a Liberal–One Nation government ABC .

Policy platform

The 2026–27 Budget carries the cost-of-living measures. It offers a 20% rego rebate, public transport fares halved to 1 January 2027, the Fair Fuel Plan and about $566m in concessions Victorian Government . Labor would restore the land-tax-free threshold to $300,000 over six years, which saves 250k Victorians up to $975 a year Labor . It keeps building the Suburban Rail Loop but cuts $2b through station changes, and it would axe the secret SRL levy ABCGuardian . It promises free abortion care at $30m over four years and would extend the medical abortion window to 10 weeks ABC . It would hire 1,500 more police, and it targets 65% renewables by 2030 Victorian Government .

Organisation/leadership risk

Labor finalised its upper-house tickets only about a month before the poll, between 21 and 28 October. Some in the party fear almost every #2 candidate loses, which would cut Council representation from 15 to about 9. Ministers Stitt and Erdoğan were repositioned ABC .

Recent results

Labor won in 2014, 2018 and 2022. At the 2025 Werribee by-election its primary collapsed to 28.6%, and it held the seat on a 50.8% two-party vote Wikipedia . It lost Prahran to the Liberal Party in February 2025.

Policy record

Portfolio-by-portfolio commitments with quotes, figures and costing status: Labor . Cross-party comparison is on the front page.