As Western Australians lined up to vote on Saturday morning one party who are hoping to improve their standing is The Greens.
At the 2021 election all their sitting members in the Legislative Council departed, while Fremantle Mayor Dr Brad Pettitt found himself entering parliament as the party’s lone representative.
Under new rules to the structure of the Legislative Council Pettitt is expected to be returned, but the party will be hoping they’ve done enough work during the campaign to increase their numbers to two, or potentially three, members.
Speaking to OUTinPerth at the polling booth at Fremantle Primary School this morning Dr Pettitt said he was feeling hopeful as the polls opened.
“It’s been a long campaign but we’re hopeful that after this we’ll have a more balanced parliament with The Greens hopefully having the balance of power.”
Reflecting on his first term in parliament Dr Pettitt said it had been a combination of “invigorating and frustrating”.
“I was glad I was there and got to ask key questions, but there’s been no real capacity to make change, and that’s why I hope the next parliament is very different.” Dr Pettit said.
Taking up the second spot on The Greens’ upper house ticket is former journalist Sophie McNeill, who said entering politics had never been one of her long-term ambitions.
“I have tried many different ways to change the world.” McNeil said of her political journey. “I tried going to places where their human rights crisis to tell those stories, but then I got frustrated because I felt no one was listening enough.” McNeil shared.
After her acclaimed career in journalism, that saw her report from the Middle East for both ABC and SBS, McNeill worked for both Human Rights Watch and Greenpeace.
“I used to brief ministers, and go to parliament house, and they didn’t listen. So now I’ve just decided I have to take their seats.”
If she’s successful at today’s election McNeill has a long list of topics to focus her energy on.
“There are so many things, but what I love about The Greens is we come at everything through a human rights lens. With the housing crisis, we believe housing is a human right, not an investment opportunity.
“Climate change – the biggest human rights issue – we’re the worst state when it comes to emissions and approving massive new gas projects. We really want to bring Labor to the table on that. We want to stop fracking in the Kimberly, get kids out of Unit 18, treat all Western Australians equally, there are so many things that Labor has promised for the LGBTIQA+ communities but not come through – the to-do list is very long.
McNeill says the party hopes to bring a strong team to the upper house and have a competitive showing in lower house seats too.
If The Greens can pull enough votes their third candidate for the Legislative Council may also be making a return to the parliament. Tim Clifford previously served from 2017 until 2021 where he focussed on climate action, affordable housing and social justice issues.
Polls are open to 6pm and a full list of locations is available from the WA Electoral Commission.
Declaration: OUTinPerth Co-editor Graeme Watson has a professional connection to Sophie McNeill from when he was an employee at the Film and Television Institute WA between 2002 – 2009.
