Hi, I’m Jenna Condie, your Blue Mountains Greens candidate for the 2023 NSW state election.
I live in Woodford with my partner and young child and work as an academic at Western Sydney University. I also work as a community organiser with groups that advocate for climate justice, environmental protection, accessible childcare and housing justice.
Politicians need to do everything possible to ensure our planet remains habitable for our children, young people and future generations. We are in a climate crisis with neither of the major parties acting in ways that show they are serious about the climate emergency we are facing. The recent floods and bushfires have shown how devastating climate breakdown is affecting our Blue Mountains communities. More needs to be done to prepare the Blue Mountains communities and to prevent future disasters
Becoming a parent has turbocharged my climate activism. Rather than despair, I am channelling my energies into action by bringing together different groups of local residents to find and create ways to make a meaningful difference such as the Blue Mountains Climate Action group for local parents, and the Cloth Nappy Community group that I co-lead and co-established, are supporting sustainable practices and generating new opportunities for climate justice.
Another project is the 1 Million Turtles freshwater turtle conservation program, an essential conservation project in Australia, where I am working to mobilise local communities in areas including the Blue Mountains, to halt species extinction and call for immediate environmental protections.
I am deeply concerned about the NSW government’s anti-protest laws and their oppression of peaceful, non-violent climate protesters who are simply fighting for our futures. We need planned climate action, not unplanned climate disaster.
It’s time for bold ideas, progressive initiatives and cultural shifts in what we value as a society.
The pandemic has demonstrated that we can change the way things are done, and many people are telling me they are reassessing what is important to them. The inequalities between people in our communities have become starker, and there is a desperate need for a fairer system.
The need to address social inequalities has led me to be directly involved in a range of community-led grassroots action projects that realise social change. Most recently I co-founded and continue to co-lead Bub Hub Blue Mountains Inc in response to the lack of childcare in this area. This is a co-working with creche service that delivers and advocates for more flexible, accessible and affordable childcare for Blue Mountains families. If we are serious about gender equity, childcare needs to be treated as a critical infrastructure.
Housing is a pressing issue in the Blue Mountains and across the state, which is deepening wealth inequality. The Greens have a plan to fix the housing crisis. Through my work with a number of tenant- and resident-led housing action groups, I know that we need stronger housing rights for housing justice for all. Everyone deserves housing security and a place to call home. We can ease the housing crisis by stopping no grounds evictions, freezing rents, implementing controls on the short-term holiday rental market and building social and affordable housing. Housing as a form of income and investment needs to stop. The political will to address the housing crisis is a Greens priority.
There are so many issues we are facing that can be immediately improved through political change.
As your Blue Mountains Greens candidate count me in to work with communities to realise: climate justice, housing justice, flexible and affordable childcare, sustainable transport infrastructure, lower voting age, better health care and better government funding for higher education.
I would love to hear from community members who are interested in joining with me to create more equitable and caring futures for people and to protect our precious environment. People in the Blue Mountains can Vote 1 for The Greens to send a strong message to both major parties that we want action on social justice and climate, not tomorrow but NOW!
