Greens state MP will re-contest seat in November election
The recent Federal Election saw the Australian Labor Party gain seats in the Lower House allowing it to govern with a majority.
Deputy Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell MP, believes that voters who wanted to see both Labor and the previous Coalition undertake considerably more policy on climate change, voted and increased the Greens seats in the federal House of Representatives and the Senate.
“The federal election made it clear: to get strong action on climate change, we need more Greens MPs and climate champions in our Parliament to push Labor and the Liberals further and faster,” Ms Sandell said.
“We did it at the federal election – now we need to do it at the Victorian election too.”
Ms Sandell officially announced on Wednesday, June 1, that she would re-contest the seat of Melbourne which she has held since 2014 at November’s state election.
“I’m excited to run for the seat of Melbourne again and continue serving my local community while pushing the next government to go further and faster on climate change, affordable housing, integrity in Parliament and better women’s representation,” she said.
Her achievements during the past eight years include campaigning successfully to get the Labor Party to reverse its position and stop the polluting East West toll road, campaigning with regional communities across the state for an Australia-first ban on fracking, and helping stop a disastrous gas import terminal at Westernport Bay.
Ms Sandell was instrumental in the Greens-initiated inquiry in Parliament when Melbourne’s recycling system totally collapsed, leading Victoria to introduce a 10-cent refund on bottles and cans and overhaul our waste system.
She took a hands-on approach in helping residents access food, medicine and vital information when nine public housing towers were suddenly forced into a hard lockdown by the Victorian Labor Government in 2020.
“In Melbourne, we’re seeing housing become totally unaffordable, while the Labor Government has stopped building public housing,” she said. •
“Labor is also opening up more areas of Victoria to gas drilling and keeping our polluting coal plants open past their use-by dates.”
“These are some of the challenges that we urgently need to address, and why we need more Greens in the Victorian Parliament.” •