|
|
|
|
| Adam Carr's Election Archive
|
Victorian state election, 28 November 2026
Bendigo East District
Location: East Bendigo, Epsom, Strathfieldsaye
Legislative Council:
Northern Victoria Region
Enrolment 2022 election: 53,134
Enrolment June 2026: 55,560 (up 4.6%)
Relevant demographics (2021 census)
High income: 16.9% (Aust average 22.6%)
Renting: 25.4% (Aust average 30.6%)
Paying a mortgage: 37.0% (Aust average 35.0%)
Couples with children: 56.0% (Aust average 43.7%)
Born overseas: 9.4% (Aust average 27.7%)
No religion: 47.2% (Aust average 38.9%)
University graduate: 21.6% (Aust average 26.3%)
Professional / managerial: 34.4% (Aust average 37.7%)
Sitting member: Hon Jacinta Allan Labor): Elected 1999, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022. Retiring 2026
2018 Labor majority over Liberal: 12.1%
2022 Labor majority over Liberal: 10.9%
Status: Fairly safe Labor
Bendigo East was created in 1985, when the old seats of Bendigo and Midlands were abolished and new seats of Bendigo East and West were created. Bendigo East takes in the eastern parts of the city of Bendigo, the satellite towns of Eaglehawk and Strathfieldsaye, and some rural areas. Like all country seats, it is very monocultural, with low levels of graduates and high-income earners. Bendigo is a regional administrative and economic hub and a major tourism centre, increasingly colonised by exurbanites from Melbourne.
These trends have made the area increasingly solid for Labor. The Liberals have not won a Bendigo seat, state or federal, since 1996. The first member for Bendigo East was Michael John, a minister in the Kennett government. He was defeated in Labor's 1999 sweep of the Victorian regional seats, and Labor has held the seat without much difficulty ever since.
Jacinta Allen, who won Bendigo East in 1999, was a minister in the Bracks-Brumby government from 2002 to 2010. After four years as a shadow minister she became a minister in the Andrews government, from 2018 as Minister for Public Transport and for Major Projects. She was Deputy Premier from 2022, and in October 2023 she succeeded Andrews as Premier of Victoria.
In July 2026, faced with a mounting union corruption scandal, centred on decisions she made as minister, Allan resigned as Premier. In August she announced that she would not recontest the seat. Labor will have an uphill battle to retain it: the Nationals candidate, Andrew Lethlean, came close to winning the federal seat of Bendigo in 2025.
2022 results
 |
Boundaries following
2021 redistricting |
See full-size map
Candidates:
 |
 |
 |
Andrew Lethlean
The Nationals |
Denali Norsen
Victorian Socialists |
Michael Tolhurst
Australian Greens |
Candidate websites
Andrew Lethlean (Nationals)
Denali Norsen (Vic Socialists)
Michael Tolhurst (Greens)
Back to main page
|
|