Greens announce candidates for Banks and Barton as St George plays host to State Delegates Council
12 October 2015
Philippa Clark, Lee Rhiannon and Brent Heber
St George turned Green when more than 150 Greens delegates from local groups across NSW travelled to Carlton to attend the October Greens State Delegates Council (SDC).
These councils are the perfect example of “grassroots democracy” and consensus decision-making in action. Within the Greens the members, not the MPs, make the decisions. In Carlton, delegates discussed everything from climate change to the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor to recognition of Palestine to amending the Greens’ Education policy.
On Saturday, St George Greens were joined by state and federal MPs to announce the Greens’ candidates for the seats of Banks and Barton in the next federal election.
The candidate for Banks is Philippa Clark. Philippa is a Hurstville Grove local and a former member of the NSW Youth Parliament. She previously ran in the March 2015 state election for the seat of Oatley. Asylum seekers and the environment are the issues she is most passionate about.
Philippa said: “There’s no better time to agitate for serious action on climate change, in the leadup to the Paris climate summit and beyond. A clean energy economy will create jobs and make the future more sustainable for us all.
“I find it very disheartening that a wealthy and warm-hearted country like Australia can’t offer more help to refugees seeking our protection. We’ve heard enough about the crimes being committed in our offshore detention centres – it’s time they were closed down,” Philippa said.
The candidate for Barton is Brent Heber. Brent is a small business owner within the media industry who lives in Kingsgrove with his wife and young son. Brent is also the secretary for the St George Greens and joined the party just after the last federal election tired of inaction by the old parties on climate change and the ideological direction our parliament was starting to move in.
“In my opinion all levels of government in Australia are currently undergoing a crisis. I am sick and tired of career politicians from the old parties making decisions counter to our communities best interests and I believe many others voters feel much the same. They want another option. The Greens are that option and I hope to show voters that during the campaign,” Brent said.
NSW Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon said: “The Greens will be strongly represented in the federal election campaigns in the seats of Banks and Barton with Philippa Clark and Brent Heber as our candidates.
“They have innovative ideas and drive on the critical issues of action on climate change, refugee rights and expanding job opportunities. In coming months I look forward to joining Brent and Philippa on the campaign trail meeting voters and discussing our election platform.”
On Saturday evening members of the public were invited to attend “Grill the Greens”, an opportunity for locals to quiz NSW Greens MPs John Kaye, David Shoebridge, Jenny Leong and Senator Lee Rhiannon on the issues that matter to the community. There were burning questions on the topics of nuclear energy, Westconnex and homelessness, among others.
All up it was a fantastic weekend that not only allowed rural and city Greens to experience everything St George has to offer, but also enabled us to contribute over $30,000 to local businesses.
Contact:
Bec Dean, Convenor, St George Greens: 0410 130 830
Brent Heber, Secretary, St George Greens and Candidate for Barton: 0406 501 192
Philippa Clark, Candidate for Banks: 0435 609 301