I was born in the Mater Hospital and grew up right here on the southside. My mum, the first from her family to go to uni, was studying social work. My dad was stacking books at the State Library. Until I was one, my parents lived in a sharehouse in West End

My parents managed to scrape together just enough to get a mortgage on a house in West End. Today that would be impossible for my parents, with a median house price of $1.6 million. 

I was lucky enough to get a world-class, free public education at West End State School and Brisbane State High.

One of the most important things I got from growing up here on the southside was a strong sense of community and social justice.

At university, I joined the Whitlam club, and eventually the Labor Party, hopeful that it was possible to help bring the Party back towards the inspirational leadership of people like Whitlam. 

But in 2013 when Labor re-opened Manus and Nauru as offshore detention sites for refugees, and cut the single parents pension – I knew something had to change.

Here's what I did next

It was painful to realise Labor wasn’t the party of Whitlam anymore, and that rather than change Labor from the inside, it would probably change me. Eventually I started to get involved in local campaigns for the Greens.

I joined the Greens because of their stance on free university education, refugee rights and genuine climate action. I saw the powerful impact they could have in pushing Labor back in a progressive direction. 

Griffith saw that too. In 2022, I was elected as your federal MP. It’s been the honor of my life to stand up for our community in Canberra

Since being elected, I’ve set up free school breakfast programs at West End State School, Whites Hill State College, Mayfield State School and Brisbane State High. I’ve donated $80,000 of my salary to make this program happen.

My team and I organised hundreds of volunteers to help with sandbagging, food delivery and clean up during ex-tropical cyclone Alfred. In 2022, we organised a mass clean up for locals affected by the February floods.

The Greens and I have substantially improved and passed all of Labor’s three housing bills – securing six times what the government originally planned to spend on social housing. We’ve also stopped taxpayer money going to new coal and gas projects, and added protection for water from gas fracking projects.

I believe genuine, positive change is possible for our community. I believe we can win free dental and mental health into Medicare, achieve real action on climate change, and tackle the housing and cost of living crisis in ways that put everyday Australians first, not billionaires. 

I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved together. I know this is just the beginning.