I didn’t plan to be a political candidate. As a young wheelchair-dependent woman, I’ve known first-hand about cost-of-living pressures, unaffordable accommodation and poor health services. My profile shot up after appearing on the SBS ‘Insight’ program, and I’ve become a well-known activist in my hometown Gympie. I’m a familiar sight, powering my electric wheelchair to the Gympie Council chambers and community meetings. My advocacy has helped improve the daily lives of numerous fellow citizens, particularly those doing it tough.
My roles have included volunteer/board member of Bravo Disability Support Network, member of the Gympie Regional Council’s Access Advisory Committee, Director of Inclusion and Accessibility at the Gympie Gold Festival and volunteer at the Gympie Pride Festival and the Space Girls Festival.
I became a Greens candidate because they are the only party that realises that today’s challenges require ambitious, targeted action. Today we face multiple crises – cost-of-living, housing shortages, sky-rocketing energy bills, poor health services and natural disasters (storms, floods, fires) caused by climate change.
The Greens propose bold action to deal with these crises. Predictably, those with vested interests criticise them. Only the Greens are serious enough to: establish a public housing authority to build 610,000 affordable homes in the next decade; cap rents; outlaw price gouging by supermarkets; build a national grid using renewable energy and battery storage; make childcare free; extend bulk-billing and put dental and mental health services into Medicare. The Greens’ ambitious actions will be funded by ending unfair tax concessions for multiple investment properties and making large corporations pay their fair share of taxes.
I’m realistic. I won’t win this election. But every No.1 vote for me will shake up the ALP and Coalition, convincing them that ‘business as usual’ won’t fix today’s multiple crises and that they must match the Greens’ bold policies.
