2015-02-03
Kitty Carra (Queensland State Director)
Right to left: Kirsten Lovejoy, Greens Candidate for Brisbane Central, Senator Larissa Waters, Charles Worringham, lead spokesperson and candidate for Moggill, Senator Christine Milne, and Omar Ameer, Greens Candidate for Mt Coot-tha
It wasn't hard.
It wasn't hard to find 89 good candidates to stand for the Greens in the Queensland State Election.
It wasn't hard to speak out on innovation, integrity, public transport and the environment.
It wasn't hard to mobilise the party and supporters for some of the largest Greens phone banks in Australia.
All of that was easy — what was hard was to do all of this in January and in just under three and a half weeks!
On Saturday, Queensland went to the polls and the whole country watched with bated breath to see the outcome for ourselves, the solar industry, the reef and the future of Queensland.
Without the multimillion dollar budgets, an upper house, compulsory preferential voting or proportional representation we all knew how hard it would be for us to win a state seat in Queensland. But we still had political power.
We made the reef the issue of the election. We made solar something to talk about. We made public transport a public debate. And we kicked Campbell Newman out.
Over its three year term, the Newman Government introduced a raft of funding cuts and legislative changes that seriously threatened the reef, the climate and our future. It was an immediate and urgent task to get rid of him. Our Green vote in Ashgrove tipped Campbell out of his seat, out of his premiership and out of politics for good. The Green vote across the state has forced an upset being felt at a federal level right now.
We are thrilled with the result on Saturday — a swing towards us and a statewide vote of 8.24%
Our task ahead is to continue to campaign for electoral reform in Queensland so we can one day gain a seat, while maintaining the pressure on the old parties to protect the environment, support renewable energy and plan for a sustainable future.
All of this feels easy because of people like you. 1500 of you volunteered to help us, and together we knocked on more than 6000 doors and made more than 8000 phonecalls.
With a 30% increase in membership last year and a then another 10% increase over the last month, the Greens in Queensland are growing fast. We remain a consistent, positive voice for both our community and our environment.
So Thank You. Thank you for being a member. Thank you for your commitment. Thank you for your help. And thank you for your hope.