"Last-minute entrant" James Searle will fly the flag for the Greens in Bendigo West in the coming state election.
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The Castlemaine resident, whose mother Linda Laos was a co-founder of the Victorian Greens, has been a member of the party for about 15 years, and said he put his hand up because a candidate was needed.
"There's not a lot of time left to do much campaigning but I'm keen to hit the ground running in the short time I've got left," he said.
Mr Searle said his focus was "just the broader Greens policy platform, including housing affordability, better access to public healthcare and urgent action on climate change".
The 37-year-old, who moved to central Victoria in April, was a councillor at the City of Yarra in Melbourne from 2016 to 2020, a role he found "very rewarding", although he did not seek a second term.
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He was also a candidate for the state seat of Eltham in 2010 and for Boroondara council in 2012.
Mr Sinclair, who works remotely as the treasurer at the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union, said he had wanted to move to regional Victoria for several years. The natural surroundings, particularly the potential for bushwalking, together with more affordable housing, had drawn him to the area.
"I wanted to be still relatively close to Melbourne - I guess I wanted a tree-change," he said. "And I was just able to afford to buy a place here."
As a newcomer he is keen to "get across all the local issues" and get involved with local community groups.
While not expecting to be elected "this time" to the safe Labor seat of Bendigo West, he planned to give his campaign "a red hot go", he said.
"We polled very well in some local booths in the federal election and it could be an important seat in the future. And a strong Greens vote sends an important message to Labor that they can't take safe seats for granted."
The new candidate was also hopeful about the chances of Greens upper house candidate Cate Sinclair.
"With a strong Greens primary vote, we have a real chance of electing Dr Cate Sinclair as the first Greens MP for Northern Victoria and securing the balance of power in the upper house," he said.
The former Swinburne University student has held executive positions with the Yarra Energy Foundation, the Swinburne Bookshop Cooperative, the Swinburne Student Union and the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations.
He has also been a president of the Swinburne Student Union, taught business information systems at the university and worked as a Pizza Hut restaurant manager.
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