2026-09-03
Campaigning all around the state, anti-AUKUS, Land Forces, Wall of Tears and hope not hate
By Hon Sophie McNeill, MLC
It has been an incredibly busy few months for us as we’ve been all over WA meeting with communities, exposing the government’s real priorities in Parliament (hint: not the climate crisis, nor the housing crisis!), and of course supporting the huge campaign run down in Secret Harbour. It’s always great to take our message directly to voters in the community and I’m incredibly proud of the unapologetically anti-racist and hope-filled campaign we ran.
Thanks so much to all volunteers, staff and of course our amazing candidate Rhi Davies for all your hard work in a very short campaign.
Building the anti-AUKUS movement in Rockingham
Last month we were lucky to host Senator David Shoebridge in Rockingham to discuss the many consequences AUKUS will have for our local communities. We had an incredible turnout of 100+ people including lots of curious locals who joined us to talk about the housing crisis, protecting Cockburn Sound, and of course the very real security risks that come from hosting one of the US’ largest military bases. It was great to see so many new faces at the event from so many different backgrounds. This was only a few weeks after we had about 40 locals join our community forum in Rockingham for an important conversation about the impact of AUKUS and Westport developments on Cockburn Sound.
Special Protection for Arms Dealers
In Parliament in August we have been interrogating the terrifying anti-protest legislation being prioritised by WA Labor: the Land Forces Bill. This Bill gives police extraordinary powers to protect an arms fair hosted in the middle of Perth in October. The last time the Government gave out powers like this was when the Queen visited! These laws will have a chilling effect on protest and set a dangerous precedent for future events. This is particularly concerning given that this is the third bill in 12 months that targets peaceful protesters.
Wall of Tears hosted at Parliament
In the last sitting week of Parliament for August, as a co-convener of the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine, I co-hosted the Wall of Tears at WA Parliament alongside Perth Doctors for Palestine. This memorial to 18,000+ murdered children in Gaza had a profound and moving impact on the many MP’s who attended that evening.
Hope Not Hate
In the spirit of spreading Hope not Hate, we have been busy organising and supporting events to discuss how we can build our movement to defeat the far right. On July 10th we hosted Senator Dr Mehreen Faruqi and other experienced community leaders in a panel discussion. In August we went to Bunbury to join both new faces and the local Muslim community for a discussion on how we can work together. In Fremantle I joined the Freo Greens at a wonderfully engaging community conversation on the same topic.
Header photo: The AUKUS Forum in Rockingham on 25th August with Senator David Shoebridge and Rhi Davies, Greens candidate for the Secret Harbour by-election.