Greens announce Parsons as Federal candidate for Shortland

Lake Macquarie Greens councillor Phillipa Parsons will be The Greens candidate for the Federal seat of Shortland in the forthcoming Federal election, the party announced today.
“This federal election will be contested on several key issues at which the Greens stand at the forefront,” Ms Parsons said.
“The failure to deal adequately with the ‘greatest moral challenge of our time’ and the accompanying spin coming from both major parties is making people cynical about the political process.”
“The Greens advocate for real government action to advance a transition from dependency on coal-fired power to an economy based around clean renewable energy.”

"Recent polls indicate that our No.1 Senate candidate, Lee Rhiannon, has a strong chance of being elected to the Federal parliament, and that’s exciting, not just for The Greens, but for the Hunter and Australia as well.”
“I think much of the increased support for the Greens comes from our work with communities across NSW on a diverse range of issues; in health, education, the environment and social justice and equity,” said Ms Parsons.
“This Federal election is a crucial one for those issues that have historically been viewed as Greens’ core policies, both locally and nationally, and The Greens have proven they are a party with principles,” she said.
“It’s clear to me that people have become disillusioned with Australian politicians’ continual political point scoring and consequent inability to adequately deal with the challenge of climate change,” Ms Parsons said.
“The Greens have real and workable solutions but both Labor and the Coalition have fallen drastically short of the expectations of the nation who quite rightly expected leadership from the government in this crucial policy area.
“The doomed and unworkable Emissions Trading System was only negotiated with the Coalition, rather than The Greens because the government knew it fell far short of what needs to be done to develop an effective system.
“Moreover, the government-commissioned Garnaut Climate Change Review’s Final Report has been ignored in this arrogant push for an ETS. Why won’t either the government or the Coalition consider the report’s recommendation for an interim carbon tax on polluters while a long term solution is negotiated?
“It is Greens’ policy that this is fairest, most equitable and easily achieved option. An interim two year levy on polluters will get Australia really moving on climate action, while the Senate deadlock around the proposed emissions trading scheme is worked out,” Ms Parsons said.
“The Greens are not interested in combative, partisan politics but working towards real solutions and in that regard I am committed to ensuring you have the best representation possible both in Parliament and in the electorate. However, I will not back down from my principles and belief in strong and workable solutions to real problems and an open and transparent democratic process.
“Locally, I’ll be continuing to push for politicians’ accountability to the community and for implementation of Federal policy initiatives for a just and sustainable transition. Applied to our region, this means moving our local and regional economies away from coal dependency and toward new green collar jobs.
“The national skills shortage is an opportunity to create new apprenticeships in green collar industries and to foster new relationships with entrepreneurial industries making advances in renewable energy technologies,” said Ms Parsons.
“Since European settlement this electorate has been built on industry. We need to move into new sustainable areas of industry as the international demand for coal falls. We need to start planning now for our children’s and grandchildren’s future,” Ms Parsons said.