2022-02-19
Former Yarra Mayor and Councillor Gabrielle de Vietri has been pre-selected as the Victorian Greens’ candidate for the seat of Richmond, in what will be one of the fiercest Labor-Greens contests in the upcoming state election.
De Vietri is a young queer mum and long-time Collingwood local who has led action on climate change locally and helped stop the East West toll road from ripping up our inner-north communities.
She has lived and worked in the Richmond electorate for almost 20 years, including in North Richmond, during which time she has worked with refugees as a paralegal, created public artworks on climate change and social justice issues, and more recently served the residents of Yarra as both a Mayor and a Councillor.
As Mayor of Yarra, she oversaw a transition from gas to renewable energy among community centres in Collingwood, secured seven new open spaces in the municipality, created new bike lanes and shared zones, made outdoor dining a permanent feature of our streetscapes, and most importantly, supported those in need during the pandemic.
De Vietri said being elected to state parliament would give Richmond a powerful Greens voice for action on climate change, affordable housing and homelessness, and young people hit hard by the pandemic.
In 2014 the Greens came within just two per cent of winning the seat, and in 2018 Labor had to run a huge, expensive campaign to hang on to it. Support for the Greens in the area has continued to grow over the years with a federal Greens member and five Greens councillors in Yarra, and this year just a 5.9 per cent swing would be needed to turn Richmond Green.
With the current Labor member retiring, the Greens are ready to elect a fresh and bold voice to Parliament that will help keep the Liberals out and push the government to go further and faster on climate action, housing affordability, and equality.
Quotes attributable to Victorian Greens Richmond candidate, Gabrielle de Vietri:
“Having lived and worked in the Richmond electorate for almost 20 years, I care about what our community wants and will fight for them in the state parliament.
“Right now the Richmond community has the opportunity to have a Greens state MP that acts on their values rather than a backbencher under the sway of the factions.
“If elected I’d push the next government to go further and faster on climate action, housing and homelessness, and equality.
“The housing crisis in particular is being felt by the residents of Richmond with many residents unable to afford a safe and secure place to live. The Labor Government continues to ignore pleas from public housing residents for basic maintenance, let alone access to green open space for their children to play in. It’s time that their voices were listened to.”
Quotes attributable to Leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt MP:
“We need to keep the Liberals out of power but we also need to push Labor to do better. By electing Gabrielle de Vietri, Richmond locals will have one of the most powerful members in Parliament, one who will speak out against greedy developers and fight for the Richmond community.
“In Parliaments across the country, Greens have a proven track record of pushing Labor to improve its policies on climate action, social inequality, housing, and public services.
“While the old parties are powered by donations from gambling, developers and the coal lobby, our people-powered campaign will have hundreds of volunteers speaking with voters about how the government can make their lives better. That’s how we won Melbourne, and I hope that Richmond will be the next seat with a powerful Green MP pushing the government to do better.”
Quotes attributable to Leader of the Victorian Greens, Samantha Ratnam MLC:
“Gabrielle has been a strong voice for her community and has demonstrated that she can get important things done in her time as Mayor of Yarra. She will be a powerful local voice for the community of Richmond.
“Electing another bold Green voice to Parliament gives us a chance to shift the goal posts, and to have even more real progressive voices pushing the next government to go further and faster on climate and social justice.
“Unfortunately, even the most progressive Labor candidate in Richmond is not going to change Labor’s factional politics.
“Labor has already spent the past year trying to undermine our Greens councillors in Yarra because they’re worried they’re losing their foothold in Richmond. And they should be worried. It’s time for the Richmond community to have a fresh new progressive voice to represent them in Parliament.”
Find out more about Gabrielle here.