By JESSE GRAHAM
THE GREENS launched their campaign for the Casey electorate this week, with Federal Leader Senator Richard Di Natale joining supporters for dinner at Healesville’s Grand Hotel.
About 70 Greens supporters, Federal Election candidates, Victorian MPs and community members filled the dining room of the hotel on Wednesday night for an evening with Senator Di Natale.
After dinner, Senator Di Natale addressed the crowd, speaking about his trip around the Yarra Valley and into Toolangi earlier in the day.
The trip included visits to Warburton’s Rainforest Gallery, to Healesville Sanctuary, to the Toolangi State Forest and to Toolangi’s Strathvea Guest House, where $3 million in grants were announced for establishing tourism attractions and businesses in the Central Highlands.
He spoke about his own background, as the son of Italian immigrants, and condemned the Coalition’s $150 million plebiscite on marriage equality, among other issues, saying a conscience vote would finish the issue.
“If Malcolm Turnbull said to his party room, ‘I’m going to allow a conscience vote’ … that issue would be done in two weeks,” Senator Di Natale said.
“We can get that done through the Parliament; we’d have a rare moment of unity in a Parliament that’s otherwise so divided.
“But, no, this is a Prime Minister who fought so hard to take the job from the old guy, and he’s gone with the old guy’s approach.”
Senator Di Natale then introduced Dr Sutherland as the Greens candidate for Casey, who said her decision to stand came after years of “complaining” and joining the party in 2014.
She said a “lack of good leadership, and partisanship, lack of action on climate change”, as well as a “lack of support for renewables” and “concern about misogyny in … our communities”, prompted her to run for pre-selection.
“I decided, right then, if things were ever going to get better in our country, it would be a strong Greens party playing a role in government that will do it,” Dr Sutherland said.
“It was time to really start putting our money where our mouth was.”
Speaking to the Mail after the event, Senator Di Natale and Dr Sutherland said they were ready to campaign for the election, whether a mid-year double dissolution was called or not.
“I suspect we will have a double dissolution election in July, and we’re absolutely ready,” he said.
Dr Sutherland, a Monbulk resident, said the biggest issues for the area were about “making Casey liveable” – fast internet, bulk-billing healthcare and even sealed roads.
“We’ve chosen to live in a beautiful part of the world – a lot of us have chosen to live here to be better connected to nature and better connected to country, but, at the same time, that goes hand-in-hand with core services,” she said.
“It feels like regional Australia here, sometimes.
“And regional Australia has got a good case for getting a lot better services across the board, but we do, too, and we’re only 50 minutes from Melbourne.”
She joins Labor candidate Hovig Melkonian in the campaign for the seat of Casey, which has been held by the Liberal Party’s Tony Smith since 2001.
