Victoria’s two major-party leaders are announcing competing policies today ahead of the state election, with Premier Ben Carroll promising mineral royalties to regional Victoria and Opposition Leader Jess Wilson pledging a network of technical colleges.
The election will be held on 28 November, the ABC reported. Both pledges are being formally announced today.
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Labor’s Royalties for the Regions
Under Carroll’s “Royalties for the Regions” policy, a re-elected Labor government would direct 100 per cent of mineral resource royalties into regional Victoria, including schools and hospitals, the ABC reported.
Carroll directly cited Western Australia’s long-running policy as his inspiration, the ABC reported. The ABC reported that the WA scheme was spearheaded by then Nationals leader Brendon Grylls after the deadlocked 2008 WA election.
Carroll said Victoria’s minerals endowment was estimated to generate $500 million over the next four years, according to the ABC’s report. He pointed to the approved Avonbank Mineral Sands Project in the Wimmera and to the Sunday Creek exploration project, the ABC reported.
Carroll set out the principle behind the policy in plain terms, as reported by the ABC: “If the wealth comes out of regional Victoria, the wealth should go back into regional Victoria”.
In the ABC’s report, he framed the commitment as a promise to “guarantee every cent”.
The Coalition’s Technical Colleges
Wilson’s plan is for 10 technical colleges built on the South Australian model, AAP reported. Students would be enrolled full time from years 10 to 12, according to the ABC. According to AAP, the colleges would cost $222 million over eight years and would train 5,000 students in trades including plumbing, electrical, carpentry, health care and hospitality.
Each college would take up to 500 students and would sit at existing secondary schools and TAFE institutes, AAP reported.
The opposition says the cost would be offset by more than $24 billion in savings, including a hiring freeze on back-office staff, according to AAP.
“My team is backing the next generation of tradies to get the skills they need sooner for a rewarding career,” Wilson said, AAP reported.
“Not every student thrives in a traditional classroom and not every young person wants to go to university,” she said, as quoted by AAP.
Several of the trades on the list, among them plumbing, electrical and carpentry, are ones that housing work relies on. In March, wrp reported that Victoria had unveiled its final planning rules for homes near Melbourne’s train and tram hubs.
Tech Schools and an Older Divide
The two sides already differ on the schools that exist today. The Coalition describes Labor’s existing Tech Schools as “drop-in centres offering short-term experiences but no vocational qualifications”, the ABC reported.
Labor opened Brimbank Tech School in August, the third of six tech schools under a $116 million STEM investment, according to AAP.
Victoria’s split between high schools and technical schools ended with the Cain government’s late-1980s reforms, the ABC reported.
Seven Weeks to Polling Day
AAP reported that the Resolve Political Monitor, published by Nine newspapers, has Labor’s primary vote at 25 per cent, the Coalition at 27, One Nation at 23 and the Greens at 12.
Victorians go to the polls on 28 November. Between now and then, Labor will be asking voters to back its royalties guarantee for the regions, and the Coalition its plan for 10 technical colleges.
Sources: ABC News, “Mineral royalties and technical colleges in duelling Victorian election pledges”, 11 October 2026 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-11/victorian-election-mineral-royalties-technical-colleges/107251274); AAP, “Coalition pledges hands-on pathway to train tradies”, 11 October 2026 (https://aapnews.aap.com.au/news/coalition-pledges-hands-on-pathway-to-train-tradies)
Image by chee.hong, licensed under CC BY 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons.
Parliament House on Spring Street in central Melbourne, 2015. Shown as background to the campaign story only.