Hi, I’m Aiya and I’m standing for the Greens in the seat of Solomon - covering Darwin and Palmerston.
I’m a healthcare worker, a student and a renter in beautiful Darwin, where I was born and raised. Working in healthcare during the pandemic has made it so clear to me that COVID has only made inequalities in healthcare in the Territory worse.
In 2020, I ran for the Greens in the Northern Territory election in my home seat of Johnston, covering Millner, Moil and Jingili in Darwin’s northern suburbs. I ran in that election - aged 20! - because none of the other parties were offering real action on climate change. I’m sad to say that hasn’t changed. You can’t say you take the climate crisis seriously - then give away millions of dollars of public money to big gas companies to frack the Territory.
Every Parliament needs a strong Green voice to push the other parties to go further and faster on climate change, and on looking after land, water and nature here in the NT.
I rent a home with my partner in Darwin, and I’m studying to become a nurse alongside my work. Being a young person trying to get by in Australia has become so much harder under Scott Morrison and the Liberals - even in wonderful Darwin. Higher education is becoming more expensive, so it’s harder for us to train for our careers. Student debt is getting worse and the cost of housing is only climbing, especially after the last two years have pushed rents and house prices up so much.
Everyone should have a good home, access to excellent education and the chance to live well in their home community. I’m so proud that the Greens platform now includes powerful, costed policies to deliver a good future for us all - paid for by properly taxing big corporations and billionaires.
I’m running for the Greens because I’m so unimpressed with the other political offerings. The Territory deserves better. Everyone should have the option to vote for a party that isn’t about fighting strange factional battles, but is about offering a positive vision for our future.
Voting Green is powerful. In 2019, it was preferences from Green voters that decided the outcome on the final count in Solomon - and stopped Morrison and the CLP from winning a seat here. We urgently need to kick out the Liberals, but we can’t stop there.
Every Green vote is a vote for a better politics, that’s about building a good future for all of us, not just the super wealthy.
I love my local markets and I love that walking out my front door in Darwin means running into people I know, from all walks of life. I never want that to change about our town. I look forward to running into you between now and election day!
