Our Greens family has recently lost two brilliant and beautiful humans, Sophie Trevitt and Fraser Brindley.
Sophie was a force of nature. She really was the best of us.
As one of her friends told me “She was all of us at our best all the time.” Her work protecting our climate and alongside First Nations communities for justice was so full of passion, commitment and heart. When we finally raise the age of criminal responsibility in this country, we know that Sophie was a huge force behind it.
Fraser was such a big and irreplaceable part of our movement. His friends and colleagues know what a talented activist he was. Fraser was never afraid of poking the proverbial bear or pushing boundaries. Our work in Parliament owes much to his courage and intellect. The Brindley Rule of “Get on with it” will be forever with us.
My love and heart goes out to the families and loved ones of Sophie and Fraser.
This is such a difficult time for many of us. Grief looks different for everyone. For some the comfort of being with fellow colleagues and friends and sharing stories will help. Others will need time on their own or with loved ones.
As we have been engulfed in grief and sadness, it has been deeply heartwarming to see the unlimited kindness and compassion of our Greens teams. Thank you for supporting and embracing each other.
It is this connection, care and knowing the importance of love that makes us who we are - a movement fighting for people and the planet with all our might and that truly makes us a force to be reckoned with.
It is what Sophie and Fraser epitomised, and it is what we will continue to do.
In a difficult time like this, these traits are the ones which will carry us through.
With much love and solidarity always,
– Mehreen
Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens
In politics we often say that no-one is irreplaceable. Fraser Brindley was irreplaceable.
By Jay Tilley and Nick McKim
Fraser died on the ninth of August, exactly one month before his 50th birthday. He leaves behind four beautiful children – Via, Isabel, Ursula and Arthur. We ache for them and his mum, Helen.
Fraser’s death has cost the Greens and the movement a great friend and a staunch comrade. His extraordinary intelligence, strategic wisdom and immaculately calibrated moral compass will be sorely missed.
Fraser was part of us for a long time. Elected to Moreland Council in 2002, he was one of the first Greens elected to local government in Victoria. In 2004, he won a seat on Melbourne Council. His former Green local government colleagues remember Fraser as the brightest of sparks. Engaging and driven, he ran rings around the old guard on councils. Councillor Brindley made good things happen for his community and for our party.
He was also an admirably brave human. Fraser ended up facing court for working with investigative journalists to blow the whistle on a secret database of voters held by the ALP in Victoria.
Fraser possessed a rare intellect and understanding of systems. He spent many years advising federal Green MPs on economic justice, ever vigilant of the corporate oligarchs, the captains of neo-liberalism and their elected stooges.
Fraser didn’t just get that things needed to change. He understood how they needed to change, and what needed to be done to bring change into being.
He railed against the exploitative frameworks entrenched in our economic system. He saw how ownership of land is the modern determinant of class, and how opportunity and disadvantage in life now depend largely on relationship to land. He called it neo-feudalism and he was right.
He saw clearly how our financial system directs capital into speculative assets for the benefit of the few instead of into productive investments to improve the quality of life for many. And how it destroys nature at great cost to the sustainability of life for all.
He had great capacity to spot political fracture points and visualise exactly how to best apply pressure to them. He did this ruthlessly and to great effect.
There are a lot of people who didn’t know who Fraser Brindley was, but who nevertheless felt the effect of his intellect and actions.
The CEOs of the big banks wouldn’t have been hauled in front of a Royal Commission without Fraser.
Phillip Lowe would have been reappointed as governor of the RBA if not for Fraser.
PwC and the great sham of consultancy would not have been exposed to the degree it has been without Fraser.
Fraser was an outstanding teacher. He would patiently explain concepts and took great delight when folks finally understood his more elaborate schemes.
Of course, he was much more than a political activist.
In his younger days he toured with indie-pop group Frente on keyboards, playing to packed out stadiums in North America, and he was very recently making electronic music as FUNGIBLE. Classic Fraser. And he was a great friend to many of us.
He was an artist, humanist, activist, collectivist – Fraser Brindley was one of life’s rare happenings.
He’s left a massive hole in our hearts, and in our movement. We’ll miss you Fraser. But we’ll never forget you and all that you taught us about how to make this world a better, fairer place.