The Victorian Greens are set to unveil a new land tax on investment properties worth more than $5 million, with the proceeds intended to double public housing and scrap stamp duty for first home buyers. The policy, announced on Monday, mirrors a similar measure introduced by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who implemented a levy on second properties over $5 million to tax the wealthy.
State leader Ellen Sandell said the idea had been circulating within the party for some time. The proposal is the latest example of the Victorian Greens borrowing from progressive politicians gaining traction overseas. Last month, Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, addressed the party’s campaign conference, urging them to directly challenge One Nation as he had with Reform UK.
Greens present 'hopeful and bold' alternative
Sandell said the Greens offer voters a genuinely progressive, hopeful, and bold alternative to the major parties. However, with the populist right on the rise—particularly One Nation—some political observers remain sceptical about the party’s ability to lift its vote sufficiently to achieve its goals.
Victoria has long been considered a Greens stronghold, but the party’s fortunes have turned in recent years. In 2025, the state party lost the seat of Prahran to the Liberals in a February byelection. Three months later, federal leader Adam Bandt was ousted from Melbourne, a seat he had held since 2010 when he became the first Green to win a lower house seat at a general election.
Changing mood in Victoria
Sandell argued that a lot has changed in the past year, particularly in Victoria. She said the mood is now very different from six months or a year ago, with people genuinely fed up with Labor but aware that the Liberals would be worse and One Nation disastrous.
Not everyone is convinced that dissatisfied voters will turn to the Greens. Damon Alexander, a senior lecturer in politics and public policy at Swinburne University, said minor party support is likely to rise at the November election but not necessarily for progressives. He noted that a small cohort of Labor voters might shift to the Greens in inner-city seats, but many of those already jumped ship some time ago. Instead, he expects much of the protest vote to flow toward populist right-wing parties, particularly in outer suburban areas where the Greens are really on the nose.
Greens seen as too progressive?
Even if the party’s economic message resonates in these areas, Alexander said perceptions of the Greens as too progressive, too woke, and too supportive of immigration may outweigh it. Benjamin Moffitt, a senior lecturer in politics and international relations at Monash University, agreed, describing the Greens as a relatively established player with a consistent share of the vote. He said they are victims of their own success, looking like a polished political outfit, which limits their ability to present themselves as an anti-establishment or insurgent populist party.
Sandell rejected the notion that the Greens are stagnating, citing a Demos poll released in June showing the party recorded a 15% share of the vote, compared with 11.5% at the 2022 state election. The poll, which had a margin of error of 3.8%, also showed Labor’s primary vote at just 21%—a drop of 13.6 percentage points since 2022—and the Liberals on 30% (down 4.5 percentage points). One Nation polled at 23%, well above the 0.22% or 8,077 primary votes it received in 2022.
Targeting new seats
Sandell said with Labor being so unpopular, seats beyond Northcote and Prahran—which the Greens are confident of picking up—are also firmly in their sights, including Albert Park, Pascoe Vale, and Footscray. Even in middle-ring suburbs, she reported increased support; the campaign launch for Box Hill candidate Aaron Qin attracted more than 400 people. Grassroots activity is also increasing, with more than 700 people signing up to volunteer in the past three weeks. Internal figures seen by Guardian Australia show the party knocked on 4,575 doors and held 1,379 conversations with voters across key seats between 8 and 22 June—well above Labor.
Ultra wealth tax details
The Greens are hoping bold economic policies will convert support into seats. The party will campaign hard on its ultra wealth tax on residential land-holdings worth more than $5 million, excluding owner-occupied homes. Under the plan, from 1 January 2027, affected properties would face a base charge of $100,000 plus a 5.3% rate on land value above the threshold. The policy, costed by the Victorian Parliamentary Budget Office, would raise about $1.46 billion by 2028/29 or $6.4 billion over a decade.
Sandell said people who have more than $5 million in investment homes that they don’t even live in can afford to pay a little extra so that everyone can afford a home. She predicted commentators will be surprised by the Greens’ performance in November, despite the party lacking big corporate donors and facing criticism from Sky News. She emphasised that the party has hundreds of people door-knocking every weekend across the state. Whether that grassroots momentum is enough to counter the rise of right-wing populism—and match the success of progressives overseas—remains to be seen.
