Hi, I'm Greg Clancy.
I'm an ecologist who has worked and lived in Clarence for more than 40 years. Since 2016, I've been a Clarence Valley Councillor, the last year as Deputy Mayor, bringing a voice for change.
Together, we can make the Clarence a healthy, prosperous and united region that respects our natural world. Development and employment should repair Country and communities, incorporating First Nations' knowledge.
Small businesses and the self-employed, our economic backbone, need support to prosper and provide jobs for our many unemployed. We must also keep our public servants and the services they deliver, which are vital to our local economy. The private Clarence Correctional Centre must step up its contribution to our economy by paying decent wages and to our society by delivering effective rehabilitation.
The expansion of coal mines continues despite Government lip service to ‘Net Zero’. Waste-to-energy incinerators solve neither our waste nor energy crises. Our kids won’t believe how we failed to act: emissions keep rising; our beaches are disappearing; and floods, bushfires, heatwaves and droughts are worsening. Meanwhile, developers keep building on floodplains. I have taken action in Council to make this stop. We've had promises but no action from the Prime Minister and Premier.
Local education services – our schools, TAFEs and the Country University Centre – need to have their funding increased, not cut. Too many of our kids have to travel to Wollongbar or Coffs Harbour to study their chosen trades.
I support restoring the health of our rivers. Mineral and gas mining should not be allowed in our catchments. Diverting or damming rivers are not options: water running to the sea is not ‘wasted’ – it supports the health of our wetlands, estuaries and our fishing industries. Other and more sustainable flood mitigation measures are available. Our public native forests should not be logged. They protect our catchments, contain a wealth of irreplaceable biodiversity and are important carbon stores.
Politics today is driven by corporate donations and lobbyists for the benefit of big business and the wealthy, not our communities. The Greens NSW does not accept donations from corporations, so we can't be bought.
We can change the future. We have to! Some say that the Greens are off the planet but, compared to some other parties, our feet are firmly on the ground. We need strong Greens voices in Parliament for the action we need now.
