2015-10-20
Senator Richard Di Natale
What a privilege it's been, meeting so many dedicated Greens members, enthusiastic Greens supporters, and to have welcomed so many new people to Green politics.
We had an amazing launch in Tasmania with Bob and Christine, and the hundreds of people who came out to meet the curiosity that is a Greens leader who doesn't hail from the island state.
I'm absolutely honoured to be standing on the shoulders of these two giants and it was wonderful to share an evening with them at the Wild Island Gallery in Salamanca Place — a fitting venue, which celebrates the forests our colleagues have worked so hard to protect.
In the tiny town of Deloraine — where Tassie's original forest wars broke out — Peter Whish-Wilson and I enjoyed a morning tea with scones, and a special guest pademelon:
I had a bit of a homecoming in the Victorian surf coast town of Torquay — not far from my family farm and my Geelong electorate office — with a home-cooked meal from the local volunteers to boot.
We had ball at the Greens' Spring Ball in Brisbane, a lovely visit to Ballarat, and a great time in Adelaide at a crowd-funded live music venue, with Young Greens who were in town from right across the country.
A record crowd of about 600 people packed the Heath Ledger Theatre with Rachel Siewert and Scott Ludlam in Perth, and another 400 came to chat at the Petersham Town Hall with Lee Rhiannon, Jenny Leong and our celebrity MC Wendy Harmer.
Wendy joined us again for a truly delicious breakfast looking out over the Pacific Ocean from the Narrabeen Surf Club on Sydney's northern beaches.
Up on the NSW north coast it was exciting to feel the buzz of the recent victory with Tamara Smith, who wrested her seat from the Nationals in the state election. In the midst of such a hard fight against coal seam gas, I was so heartened by the optimism we shared under those vaulted ceilings of the Bangalow A&I Hall.
Just last week I got to escape the confines of Capital Hill for a lively discussion with a room full of Canberrans, MLA Shane Rattenbury and Lin Hatfield Dodds, then it all wrapped up with a sunny afternoon in Melbourne, alongside Janet Rice and Ellen Sandell.
As we head into an election year it has been so valuable for me to meet with you and hear your concerns, priorities and plans for your communities. I'm so looking forward to working with you to deliver on our vision for a safe climate, accessible health and education services, state of the art transport, a safety net which ensures people are not left behind, clean air and water and a thriving natural environment.
See you soon,
Richard