We will work together to make Western Victoria and the rest of the state a place that allows working people to flourish and contests unmitigated corporate greed.
Hi, I’m Ben. I’m one of many energised regionally-based socialists who have a vision for our region. We will work together to make Western Victoria and the rest of the state a place that allows working people to flourish and contests unmitigated corporate greed.
I was born and raised in regional Victoria. I live in Ballarat and work as a sessional academic, a casualised worker. I’m a unionist, a proud National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) member, with experience of democratic governance on my branch committee and as national councillor in regional universities.
I’ve been a community organiser and activist for many years, involved in campaigns against racism, fascism, and for action on climate change. In recent times, I’ve been active in solidarity with the people of Palestine at demonstrations, during council question times and working with community organisations and my union. I was a core organiser of the Ballarat Anti-Racism Collective (BARC) in March 2026 which led to us marching in the streets of Ballarat.
Among other things, I stand for:
· Economic security for working people;
· Better conditions for casual workers, and job security for all;
· State-funded public housing initiatives and high-density housing in regional urban centres;
· Consultation with First Nations people to progress Treaty, provide better healthcare and end Aboriginal deaths in custody;
· Supporting Palestinian liberation and an end to the genocide, and ending our state’s complicity in US imperialism’s war crimes;
· Fair and equitable treatment of migrants and refugees, in alignment with “gold standard” international law obligations;
· Championing the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community.
The people of Western Victoria have suffered from government neglect and the resulting inequity in regional economies. The major parties have permitted unfettered exploitation by predatory capitalist firms to extract as much profit as possible from Victorian workers, our youth and lifelong residents.
Class war has affected the well-being of residents in the Western Victorian region, and our major parties cannot resolve the contradiction of supposedly planning a state “for the people” while actually serving narrow capitalist interests.
Voting socialists like myself into the Legislative Council can set us on a different track.