2024-10-04
By Steph Hodgins-May
Senator for Victoria
It has been four months since I had the privilege of being sworn in as the Greens Senator for Victoria, and what a time it has been. From giving my first speech to the Senate in June to setting up a new electorate office in Melbourne and working with my colleagues to fight for a fairer, greener future in Parliament, I feel proud of what my team and I have achieved in this short time.
My transition to public life has been made easier by the incredible support and respect shown to me by my colleagues in the Australian Greens Party Room, and of the wider Greens movement. I am also grateful for the guidance of Janet Rice in preparing me for my role as senator before her retirement. I am proud to represent our vibrant Greens community in Parliament.
In addition to my portfolio and community work that is outlined in detail below, I’ve advocated for flight noise-affected communities through the Senate inquiry into the impact and mitigation of aircraft noise. I, alongside my Greens colleagues, have used this Greens-initiated inquiry to shine a light on the corruption, deceit and false promises inflicted on noise-affected communities across Australia by the aviation industry and regulators.
I also had the opportunity to join a climate-focused Parliamentary delegation with Save the Children to Vanuatu. The delegation travelled through the country and met with communities, families, and village chiefs to learn about and see the positive impact (and deficiencies) in Australia’s financial aid and its impact on people’s day-to-day lives. We also saw and heard firsthand accounts of the devastating impacts of extreme climate fuelled weather events on Vanuatu and its people.
Being part of this delegation reminded me of how critical the upcoming Federal election is not only to Australia, but for our region and globally. Now more than ever we need more Greens representatives in Parliament to extinguish the climate-wrecking policies of the Labor and the Coalition governments.
Early Childhood Education and Care
Universal and free early childhood education feels more achievable than ever. After decades of tireless advocacy by the Greens, educators and families, we saw the government take steps to increase the woefully low wages of educators. But the fight is far from over.
Educators and their unions have been fighting for a pay rise for decades, and it’s their efforts that have gotten the government to start valuing the essential work they do. But the Labor government’s announcement to raise wages by 15% over two years falls well short of what they deserve and questions remain about how it will be implemented. Labor also had the opportunity to make early childhood education and care free and universal, but instead, they locked in a fee hike for every family in a cost of living crisis.
I am committed to ensuring that every child in Australia has access to quality early learning and that educators' work is properly valued. That is why I recently used Senate Question Time to ask Minister Murray Watt why the government didn’t give workers the 25% pay rise unions demanded, why they refuse to make childcare free and why they are ignoring calls from across the sector to abolish the punitive childcare subsidy activity test. Unsurprisingly, Minister Watt dodged these questions by attacking the Greens and singing the praises of his party.
Despite Labor’s refusal to listen to the Greens or the sector, I will continue to use my position inside and outside of Parliament to ensure every Australian kid gets the quality early years education they deserve.
Science, Industry and Innovation
The Greens have long campaigned for First Nations scientific knowledge and technology to be recognised and elevated in Australia’s science agenda. We welcome the government’s recent announcement to advance First Nations knowledge systems as part of the revitalised National Science and Research Prioritise.
Unfortunately, this year also saw direct government spending on science, research and development reach its lowest point in three decades. As the spokesperson for Science and Innovation, I am committed to ensuring science and research receive the investment needed for innovation to flourish here in Australia. That is why at Senate Budget Estimates, I interrogated the head of the CSIRO about the hundreds of jobs reportedly threatened by government budget cuts, jobs vital to research in areas like health and biosecurity.
I have used my first months as the spokesperson for Industry to meet with organisations and thought leaders in sustainable and innovative industries. I have also worked alongside my Greens colleagues to advocate for climate transition to be a key feature in the government’s Future Made Australia legislation.
Victoria
I am proud and delighted to represent the people of Victoria. Since being sworn into Parliament in May, I have used my time in the Senate to speak on and advocate for issues impacting Victorians. For example, I have spoken on the closure of the St Kilda Post Office, keeping nuclear energy out of the state, cleanup of offshore oil and gas in the Bass Strait, the need for gambling advertisement reforms and raising the age of criminal responsibility.
Over the past few months, I have also met with local branches and community members in Ballarat and Inverloch to learn about the key issues impacting them and have planned visits to the Surf Coast and Mt Alexander regions. I look forward to visiting and connecting with more local communities around Victoria in the coming months.
Despite being a new office, my team are already making a real impact on the Victorian community. We recently ran a community barbeque for the residents of the Park Towers in South Melbourne to help them advocate against the Victorian Labor government’s plans to knock down 44 public housing towers and have organised an upcoming barbeque for the community of Southbank.
I am also proud of the work we have done to help publicise the cleanup efforts of the Elwood Canal Action Team and support them in making a submission to the Senate Inquiry into waste reduction.
Additionally, my team worked with the community to organise three baby clothes swap events, which will be held in the coming months at locations across Melbourne. We are privileged to be able to use the resources given to us as a Senator’s Office in ways that foster community and support Victorians in the cost of living crisis.
Since opening the electorate office in May, my team has provided direct advocacy to many Victorians struggling with immigration, Centrelink, housing and the NDIS. In situations where people feel disempowered by current systems, my team often facilitates people getting the help they need and provides crucial support to many of the most disadvantaged in our community.
I want to end by thanking my team for all their work supporting me and my constituents. I would also like to thank all the dedicated volunteers working across Victoria to get more Greens elected at every level of government. Whether they are door knocking, calling, supporting our electorate offices or helping us at events, your support is why we have the Greens party room we have today. I can’t wait to see what we achieve together at the Federal Election!
- Steph