KATIE Clements is betting on a rise of support for the Greens among Mildura voters in the upcoming state election.
“There’s really is a lot of support out there for the Greens – more than what people think, I truly believe,” Ms Clements said.
“It feels like there is a real air of change happening and we could sort of feel it at the last state election four years ago and we did get quite a lot of support from people in our area. Also judging by the federal election, lots of seats actually went from Liberal to Greens which is just incredible.”
In the recent federal election, two of the three lower house seats picked up by the Greens were held by the Liberals.
Ms Clements has lived in the area for about 20 years and is a high school teacher in Robinvale. She previously ran with the Greens in the 2020 council election where she came in 10th with 4.92 per cent of the first-preference vote.
She still believes that the Greens have a lot to offer people in the community in terms of their policies, especially ones that would target the cost of living in the area.
“I know housing is a huge issue across the state and it is really a huge issue in our electorate,” she said. “It’s the viewpoint from a lot of the different parties that the cost of living is getting out of control and that is absolutely the same view of the Greens. We’re also looking at things to tackle climate change and hopefully drive down the cost of energy.”
She said that investing in renewables and making hybrid and electric vehicles more accessible to people were also priorities for the Greens.
The election of current local member Ali Cupper MP was a good thing for the area because it proved how well the community did away from the major parties, according to Ms Clements.
“Ali’s election was a huge vote for change, I really believe that. It gives us lots of hope that possibly by shifting some conservative views, we can get more happening in the area,” she said. “The seat had been a safe Nationals seat for some time and nothing seemed to be happening and then an independent was elected.”
Ms Clements said lifting the Green’s vote percentage within the electorate would be considered a win for her.
“If I was able to maintain the percentage of the vote in the Mildura electorate that would be great, if I can increase it that would be an absolute win for me,” she said.
Ms Clements said she understands there are a lot of people in the community with passionate views that do not align with the Greens but still thinks there is an overall “groundswell” of support for her party and its policies.
“I’m really encouraging people to go out and vote for who they believe is the best candidate and has the best policies for the area not just what they have always voted for before or who they think their neighbours will vote for,” she said. “I believe that is not with the two major parties before.”
