Some may label the Greens as obsessed with the environment or too radical, but the party wants voters to scratch beyond the surface to discover their core values ahead of the NSW Election.
The Greens candidates for the seats of Penrith, Londonderry and Badgerys Creek (formerly Mulgoa) sat down with the Weekender ahead of the March 25 vote.
Local resident and candidate for Londonderry, David Maurice is passionate about welfare as he grew up on it and of course the thing his party is known for, the environment.
“Londonderry has had floods left, right, and centre and climate change is exacerbating what these weather systems can do, and we don’t want to see another repeat this summer of people being airlifted out of homes in Werrington,” Maurice said.
“We need to look at continuing to use renewable energy and sustainable energy as we can’t allow companies to dig up more coal and gas and whilst we can say we are mitigating things we are still putting more energy into this system than what we are taking out of the system, which is the problem.”
Enabling renters and people in apartments to have solar power and taking stress off the grid through alternative sources, such as geothermal energy or battery storage, are also goals for the party.
Penrith candidate and mother of two, Minoo Toussi has lived in Penrith since immigrating to Australia in 2007. An activist for human rights, she is drawn to the policy platforms that revolve around social justice for all.
“A lot of people can’t afford health care with no private insurance, so we want to have free medical and dental for all and set up public health clinics that can offer different services with bulk billing,” Toussi said.
“A lot of people including First Nations people, immigrants and different cultures are suffering from mental health issues. Cost of living is expensive, there are issues with renting but if we push for more developers and big corporations to pay fair taxes then we would have the ability to provide more equal facilities for everyone.”
Tightening anti-discrimination laws, providing free education and addressing teacher and nurse shortages are key areas of focus for the party.
Providing free public transport and stopping the privatisation of the system, along with legalising cannabis could also be on the cards if the Greens were to win power.
Teaching chemistry at Western Sydney University, Badgerys Creek candidate Nick Best said the party can provide a balanced alternative if voters research their policies.
“We are different from the major parties because we think outside of the box but we are different from the other minors because we are not a single issue party,” Best said.
“Hopefully those that vote for us in the lower house vote green in the upper house where we’re sure to get a certain number of MPs so whichever major party takes government will need get laws through the upper house and we want to see a strong green voice keeping things in line.”
A graduate of Western Sydney University, Emily covers Local, State and Federal politics for the Weekender, as well as crime and general news.
