Below is a mock up of a Traffic Light Voting Guide for Footscray. The Kew guide for voters will not be published until after the ballot draw on Tuesday November 10th.

Below is a mock up of a Traffic Light Voting Guide for the Victorian Upper House in the WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION. The SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION guide for voters in Kew will not be published until after the ballot draw on Tuesday November 10th.

Voting Traffic Light in the 2026 Victorian State Election

You will receive two ballot papers to vote for your preferred candidates in the Victorian House of Assembly and the Victorian Legislative Council .

To vote Traffic Light, vote for all the Green Light candidates or parties first, then the Orange Light ones. Number the red light candidates last.

Red light candidates are threat to achieving a fair future for us all not just in relation to Climate Rescue, but also a range of social issues most of us are concerned about. The order you number the Red Light candidates will have a significant effect on creating a good outcome at this election. We describe this advice as Strategic Preferencing. Strategic Preferencing combined with your Traffic Light Voting Guide will turbo charge the effectiveness of your vote in Red Light electorates.

Strategic Preferencing in the Kew District (How to turbo-charge your vote!)

Kew is a Red Light electorate held by the Liberal Party. We strongly advise to you preference the Liberal candidate last. You have three other Green Light candidates to vote for. We have not completed our assessments for Kew yet. Nevertheless we expect that, fortunately, one those three will be an Outstanding Green Light candidate and a very worthy independent.

Strategic Preferencing in the Southern Metropolitan Region

Whether you vote below, or above the line, number One Nation or their candidates stone motherless last. The divisiveness promoted by this party will tear us apart. Your vote can help to exclude them from minority government and preserve our capacity to restore social cohesion. They have the unhinged capacity to take a wrecking ball to the good influence of the Legislative Council.

To do this effectively you will need to fill in all the boxes either above the line or below the line.

Green Light Candidates

Sophie Torney Community Independent

About Sophie

Over the course of my career, I have built businesses, worked in technology, served the community, and taken on leadership roles in public life. I’m standing for Kew because I want to bring that broad commercial, and public service experience to state parliament — to deliver practical solutions, transparent leadership and strong representation for the community I have proudly called home for 27 years.

Slogans do not deliver for a community — action does. It requires the judgment to collaborate constructively with parliamentary colleagues on all sides of the aisle where that advances the community’s interests, and the resolve to fight hard where Kew is not getting a fair outcome. Kew deserves a representative who understands that both matter.

In 2024, I was elected to Boroondara Council as Councillor for Studley Ward and was subsequently appointed to serve a term as Mayor of Boroondara. Working collaboratively with fellow councillors and council, I have helped strengthen transparency, accountability and community consultation, while contributing to important outcomes for our community – including delivering major climate action investment, expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure when Boroondara was lagging behind comparable councils, installing heat pumps rather than gas at the new Kew Recreation Centre, and helping save the historic Kew Library from demolition, preserving a valued local asset and saving ratepayers millions. Reflecting my commitment to open government, I also made my entire mayoral diary public — the first Mayor in Boroondara to do so.

As an Executive Member of Electrify Boroondara, I have worked with others in a community-led alliance focused on accelerating the transition to a cleaner energy future. I also previously served as Convenor of the Electrify Boroondara Expo, an annual event that helps residents explore energy efficiency, electrification and practical ways to reduce household emissions and energy bills. In just a short time, it has become one of the largest events of its kind in Australia.

In 2023, I joined the board of the Accountability Round Table, a non-partisan organisation that brings together former judges, senior public servants, lawyers and civic leaders to advocate for stronger integrity, transparency and ethical standards in public life. In 2025, I was appointed Chair of the Accountability Round Table.

I am also deeply committed to environmental protection, and have worked with ecologists, conservationists, and the Lighter Footprints Forest Working Group to help protect Victoria’s native forests.

I bring to public life something increasingly rare in politics: deep private-sector experience across technology, business and entrepreneurship. I began my career in information technology at National Westminster Bank in the UK, before working as a software programmer and project manager in medium and large organisations. After completing an MBA at the University of Melbourne in 2001, I went on to found start-up companies, build and run businesses, and work across the financial, technology and literary sectors — experience that has shaped my practical, outcomes-focused approach to leadership.

For 27 years, Kew has been the centre of my family’s life and my community service. It is where my husband Tony and I have raised our three children, and where I have built strong local ties through years of volunteering and leadership — from serving as a committee member and President of the MLC Parents’ Association, to managing junior football teams and clubs, to leading volunteer efforts supporting organisations including Boroondara Community Outreach, You Matter, McAuley Community Services for Women, Share the Dignity, The Big Group Hug and the Melbourne Indigenous Transition School.

Kew deserves a representative with the experience to deliver, the integrity to lead, and the judgment to know when to work constructively and when to stand firm. I bring the real-world experience, practical perspective and deep commitment to service to do exactly that. I love this community and want the very best for Kew — not just for today, but for the future we build together.