2021-01-05
As the state election nears, will WA face its own Green Wave? Will The Greens win our first lower house seat at a general State Election?
By Callan Gray, #3 East Metro candidate
With three months left until the March 2021 state election, we must ask ourselves: is a Green wave possible in WA?
We have been told by pundits, pollsters and historians that a Green victory in a lower house seat at a general election ranges from unlikely to unthinkable. Perhaps there is some truth, that breaking the two party duopoly stranglehold on WA politics is a difficult task, but I am resolute that a Green win in our key Legislative Assembly seats and an increase in our Legislative Council representation is a very real possibility.
The year that was 2020 is ending amidst a new era in global politics; a possibility of a post-COVID economic recovery, a change in American administration and a rejection of divisive politics and further action in the efforts to save our planet from climate change through government and public action. The McGowan Government however has shown its reluctance to genuine climate action and the main opposition parties offer little more than mindless rhetoric but the push back from our community has been astonishing through efforts from groups like Extinction Rebellion, Clean State and Frack Free WA.
A Green win in our key seats of Maylands, Perth, Fremantle, Kalamunda, Scarborough, Bassendean, Victoria Park or Nedlands would force the major parties into actually listening and acting towards our community's issues.
A ban on fracking, genuine investment into public housing, free and expansive public transport, protection of our natural landscape through heritage protections and a Climate Change Act or Green New Deal passed to ensure a future for all West Australians via investment in renewables in solar, wind and water.
In the East Metro campaign we have rallied the community with our MLC Tim Clifford into supporting a Climate Change Act. We have door knocked thousands of doors with amazing candidates, Emma Pringle, Charles Pratt and Lee-Anne Miles to name a few to ensure our region among many gets the progressive representation they deserve.
Header photo: Protesters in front of Perth CBD skyline, blue skies, with one protester holding one sign "For Action On Climate Change Vote Greens"
[Opinions expressed are those of the author and not official policy of Greens (WA)]