The questions candidates must answer

Having worked in politics, media and community for two decades, I often find people asking for my prediction on Victoria’s next premier.

Can Ben Carroll, a newcomer to the role, but carrying the baggage of a 12-year-old government, be re-elected? Or can Jess Wilson, also a relative newcomer to the role, turf Labor out of government in Victoria for only the second time in nearly 30 years?

You will have to read on for my election prediction. Right now, I want to pivot to what we know for certain.

We know that the Victorian Jewish community is at a crossroads. We are seeking government backing – regulatory and financial – for the infrastructure that will be the spine of a strong Jewish community into 2030 and beyond. The two key projects planned are the Jewish Arts Quarter in Elsternwick, and Project Generation, Mount Scopus College’s plans at Caulfield Racecourse. These two projects promise game-changing education, cultural, sport and arts facilities for our community and for our local neighbourhoods. But both will need government backing to reach their full potential.

We also know that many in our community are only just getting by. The feedback at a JCCV plenum community forum earlier this year was that housing is top of mind for many Victorian Jews. The most common concern is the high cost of housing in the suburbs nearest Jewish community infrastructure. In the past five years, rent for a unit in Caulfield or St Kilda East has risen by more than 50 per cent. It goes without saying that for most, wages have not risen by anywhere near that much. For many Jewish Victorians, packing up and moving to a more affordable suburb would cause serious social and community dislocation. For those who are shomer Shabbat it is just not an option.

The cost of bills – food, medical, utilities, school fees and uniforms – continues to be a real challenge. Melbourne Jewish Charity Fund provided support for 700 families in the last financial year, a 16 per cent increase on the previous year, including over $1 million in housing support. In the same time period, C Care provided services to 2600 recipients, including more than 70,000 kosher meals.

Our Jewish schools are also offering fee subsidies to more than a quarter of all students attending. At some Jewish schools, the number of families on fee subsidies is even higher. What this adds up to is day-to-day financial stress for Jewish families, Jewish elders and single parents in our community.

And we cannot forget antisemitism. Data recorded by CSG indicates that in 2026, reports of antisemitic incidents are beginning to decline, but we are a very long way from pre-October 2023 levels. There is no doubt, as well, that much of our community feels deep tension and worry that the next attack on a Jewish person, a shule or a Jewish school is just around the corner. These anxieties are completely understandable as we edge toward the first anniversary of the Bondi Chanukah tragedy.

While the current government strengthened Victoria’s hate speech laws in this term of Parliament, time will tell if those reforms are sufficient. In addition, while these laws did not receive bipartisan support, at the weekend, Liberal leader Jess Wilson announced that if she becomes premier, her government would expand bans on hate speech, to prohibit certain slogans, including “globalise the intifada”. Wilson also told a Caulfield Shule audience that if she becomes premier, she will strengthen “move-on laws” and introduce protest permits to help Victoria Police gain more control over violent or dangerous protests. The latter are measures that the Labor side of politics has explicitly ruled out, despite three years of repeated requests from our community.

Beyond addressing community infrastructure needs and presenting solutions to alleviate housing and cost of living challenges for Jewish Victorians, the JCCV would like to see further commitments from both sides of politics in this campaign. These include:

• A pledge to implement all state-level recommendations from the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, which will report in December;

• A commitment to cover the cost of community security to remove the burden from shules, schools and community groups, which are currently forced to raise funds through security levies, or direct hard-earned revenue or sponsorship funds to security;

• More serious efforts to prevent antisemitism, via school and workplace education and through institutional approaches, including swift action to remove government funding from any entity deemed to be stoking divisions.

So the time has come for my election prediction. I predict a very different Victorian Parliament after November 26. A strong Labor majority with the Greens holding the balance of power in the Upper House – as we currently have – seems as unrealistic as snow falling on the first night of Chanukah in Melbourne. Time will tell whether the next Victorian government will be led by Ben Carroll or Jess Wilson, but our community will be asking serious questions of our local candidates, and our leaders, over the next few weeks.

Naomi Levin is the CEO of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV).