What Matters Most This Election

Victoria is eight weeks from deciding its next government, with voters heading to the polls on 28 November.

Crime, housing, energy, state debt, healthcare and transport infrastructure are among the major issues competing for voters’ attention.

Wyndham TV is asking readers which issue concerns them most heading into the election.

Crime

Crime remains one of the campaign’s biggest issues.

The latest Crime Statistics Agency figures showed criminal offences in Wyndham fell 1.2 per cent in the year to June 2026, but remained about 54 per cent higher than four years earlier.

Victoria Police also recorded 1,340 full-time equivalent vacancies at the end of August.

Labor has pledged another 1,500 police and a second metropolitan police academy in Wyndham.

The Liberal-Nationals have promised 3,000 additional police, tougher bail laws and an expansion of their proposed Adult Crime, Adult Time laws.

Housing

Housing combines several pressures: the cost of buying, rental affordability and whether enough homes are being built.

A Victorian parliamentary inquiry identified low rental availability, high rents, barriers to home ownership and housing supply as significant problems.

Labor has focused on increasing supply through planning reform and development around transport and activity centres, alongside investment in social housing.

The Liberal-Nationals have proposed releasing more land, speeding up development in growth areas and reducing barriers for first-home buyers. The Greens have proposed an initial two-year rent freeze followed by limits on rent increases.

For Wyndham, increasing housing supply also raises the question of whether roads, schools and other services can keep pace.

Energy

Victoria is debating how to replace ageing coal-fired generation while keeping electricity reliable and affordable.

The state has legislated renewable electricity targets of 65 per cent by 2030 and 95 per cent by 2035.

Labor is pursuing wind, solar and storage alongside new transmission infrastructure. The Liberal-Nationals support renewable energy but want increased Victorian gas production to help maintain reliability.

The Greens favour a faster transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable generation and storage.

One Nation proposes a substantially different direction, including scrapping net-zero targets and renewable subsidies, retaining and upgrading coal generation, prioritising Victorian gas and repealing Victoria’s ban on nuclear energy.

The practical debate centres on cost, reliability and timing. Replacing coal requires new generation as well as storage and transmission capable of supplying electricity when wind and solar output is low.

State Debt

Victoria’s net debt is forecast to increase from $165.3 billion in 2025-26 to $199.3 billion by June 2030.

Debt allows governments to build long-term infrastructure now and spread its cost over future years rather than requiring current taxpayers to fund major projects immediately.

But borrowing also brings interest costs, reducing money available for other spending and potentially limiting the state’s ability to respond to future economic pressures.

The government points to forecast operating surpluses and expects debt as a proportion of Victoria’s economy to begin falling. The opposition has made reducing debt and government spending a central part of its economic platform.

Healthcare

Healthcare remains particularly important in rapidly growing areas such as Wyndham.

The 2026-27 State Budget provides more than $32 billion for Victoria’s health system, including $1.6 billion to support public hospitals.

Locally, $95 million has been allocated to operate the expanded Werribee Mercy Hospital emergency department, while the Point Cook Community Hospital is also being developed.

The longer-term question is whether hospital capacity, ambulance services and the healthcare workforce can grow quickly enough to match Wyndham’s population.

Transport And Infrastructure

Transport remains one of Wyndham’s most visible pressures.

Labor has pledged $195 million to duplicate two kilometres of Point Cook Road if re-elected, as well as sections of Ballan Road.

Rail remains another issue. Wyndham Vale and Tarneit continue to rely on V/Line rather than metropolitan trains, while the Liberal-Nationals have proposed $1.7 billion for 25 hybrid electric trains serving the Wyndham Vale and Melton corridors.

Werribee Station also remains an issue, with much of its infrastructure dating from its 1983 redevelopment and no lifts currently providing access between platforms.

Several political parties and candidates have also backed calls from the Better Buses campaign for major reform of the western suburbs bus network.