Walter Mikac, whose wife and two daughters were killed in the Port Arthur massacre, says the tragedy motivates him to bring change and is part of the reason he is running in the Victorian state election.
Mr Mikac, who set up The Alannah and Madeline Foundation in honour of his children in the aftermath of the 1996 horror, is standing as a candidate for the newly-formed Aussie Battler Party.
High crime rates and the cost of living in Victoria are two areas where Mr Mikac feels people are being let down, and he hopes the party will appeal to voters disillusioned with the status quo.
Mr Mikac, who was born in Melbourne and moved back shortly after he lost his family, says he would have been unlikely to enter politics without experiencing such tragedy.
"That thrust me into a pretty extraordinary situation and I think part of that was having a public persona and being able to use that leverage to make change happen," he told AAP.
"I have used it as a motivator to do things, and in some ways that's part of the core reason why I have decided to run in the election, to try to restore Victoria's lifestyle to how I grew up."
Mr Mikac longs for a return to his childhood when it was considered safe enough for children to travel alone on public transport in Melbourne, and wants older people to feel secure in their own homes again.
He suggests education programs and community work could be used to engage disenfranchised communities and lower crime rates.
Mr Mikac, who is running for the Northern Metropolitan Region upper house seat, said his campaigning for gun law reform after the Port Arthur massacre is testament to his dedication and passion.
The body count of the Bourke Street attack on November 9 could have been much higher if the perpetrator had had access to a firearm, he said.
"The fact that they (firearms) are not so available is really a legacy of what happened at Port Arthur and that's something that I'm really proud of," Mr Mikac told AAP.
A total of 19 candidates are standing for the Aussie Battler Party in the Victorian state election on Saturday.
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