Greens down but not out

Greens candidate for Noosa Rhonda Prescott

The Greens candidate for Noosa Rhonda Prescott congratulated Sandy Bolton and her team “for conducting an

energetic and extremely focused election campaign culminating in a landslide

victory“.

“I also congratulate Noosa voters for having the courage to again elect a

candidate outside of the two major political parties,“ she said.

“We are fortunate to have a hard working local representative committed to

achieving the best outcomes for our community and I wish Sandy all the best.

Contesting an extremely popular independent incumbent in Noosa was always

going to be challenging, and number of primary votes for The Greens in this

electorate has dropped in comparison to recent prior elections.

“However our local branch has gained new members and supporters, Queensland

Greens have doubled our representation in State Parliament and I have been

able to use my candidacy to share our positive message for solutions to

combat climate change, create employment opportunities and boost the economy

as well as advocating for racial and social justice.“

Ms Prescott said her first candidate experience had been positive overall and she appreciated the support and encouragement she had received.

“Spending two weeks at pre-polling shoulder to shoulder with the other

candidates it was gratifying to discover just how much

common ground there was between myself and the other candidates in our

collective recognition of the urgent need to dramatically reduce greenhouse

gas emissions to avoid runaway climate change,“ she said.

“The challenges of our time require all citizens, all three levels of

government in Australia and the whole global community to put aside

ideological differences and work together to achieve solutions. I hope that

in the next term of the Queensland parliament we will see some real progress

towards the necessary transition towards renewable energy, saving what is

left of the Reef, stopping wholesale de-forestation, conservation of koalas

and reversing the decline in biodiversity.

“I love it when the other parties adopt Greens policies. It was great to see

the LNP announce plans for investment in recycling technology including a

solar panel recycling facility and Labor committing to a new Renewable

Energy Fund to facilitate investment in publicly-owned renewable energy

assets.“