2021-04-15
The NSW Greens are excited to announce Upper Hunter Councillor Sue Abbott as our candidate for the Upper Hunter by-election in Wanaruah, Kamilaroi and Gringai country.
Sue is an Upper Hunter local, having lived at Scone since 1983, where she and her partner raised their four children.
Since being elected to council in 2016 Sue has been a strong voice for retaining local services, fairness and protecting the local environment. It was Sue’s advocacy that led Upper Hunter Council to declare a climate emergency in 2019.
Sue is a passionate community campaigner, who played a key part in the community campaign to save Scott Memorial Hospital from the State Government’s attempts to downgrade local care. Sue is every bit as committed to the campaign to bringing back a fully functioning TAFE.
Sue Abbott says:
“I have always believed in honesty, transparency and accountability in government, and these are values that the Greens will always bring to politics.
“The people of the Upper Hunter have been grossly let down by the major parties who seem to be competing with each other to lower the standard of politics, and this by-election is a great chance for locals to vote for change.
“I am committed to protecting the Upper Hunter’s air quality, farmland and water resources from the further expansion of the coal industry.
“Politicians need to be honest about the future of fossil fuels, the key driver of climate change and extreme weather events. This is an industry without a long-term future and we need policies to help map out a prosperous and healthy post coal future for the Upper Hunter.
“Any expansion of coal, gas or gas pipelines in the Upper Hunter electorate will hamper the diversification of the economy and lock the Hunter into a dead-end future.
“The Greens are the only political party not welded on to the demands of the multinational mining companies and a handful of mining billionaires at the expense of community health, other local industries and the environment.
“Land, water and the valley’s scenic landscape are irreplaceable assets that must be protected from further degradation.
“I’m excited to be the Greens candidate for the Upper Hunter and looking forward to getting out and speaking with locals during the campaign,” Sue said.
Greens MP David Shoebridge said:
“Sue is a principled and passionate Upper Hunter local with a great track record of working with the community to protect local services and save the local environment.
“The threat of climate change is clear and the change to renewables is an opportunity for the Upper Hunter to secure billions of investment dollars in clean green energy and the industries which will follow.
“Further education and quality training opportunities are critical requirements for workers to access the new economy. The Greens are 100% in support of rebuilding a fully functioning TAFE.
“We see this as just the first step in building a prosperous post coal future for the region.
“Coal miners in the Upper Hunter have provided billions of dollars of taxes and royalties to the NSW government over the past decades and it’s time that some of that came back to the community.” Mr Shoebridge said.