Hi, I’m Melissa and I’m proud to be your candidate for Lilley.
I have a Degree in Biomedical Science, with a career of over 16 years in the medical research and oncology manufacturing sector.
I’m a proud union member and stand up against unreasonable work practices. I support and take action on local and global campaigns for workers’ rights, social justice, cancer research and the climate crisis.
During my fifteen years of living in Lilley, I have gained a clear picture of the challenges facing our community. Attending local events, and supporting our diverse businesses has shown me how families in Lilley are struggling with increasing rents leading to housing instability and homelessness, growing unemployment and the casualisation of the workforce and lack of government support for small businesses, whilst mega-rich corporations get special deals from the Liberal and Labor parties.
People in Lilley work hard and pay their taxes, yet one in three big corporations pays no tax. The Greens will introduce the first ever billionaires’ tax to make them pay their fair share and use these funds to include dental and mental health into Medicare, build over one million homes, take strong action on the climate crisis and fully fund our schools and healthcare.
We need integrity and transparency in politics. Right now, big corporations and lobbyists pay thousands of dollars to get special access to Liberal and Labor Members of Parliament and this must stop. The Greens believe Members of Parliament should listen to, and serve you. We don’t accept donations from corporations and that means we fight for you and your needs – not mega-rich corporations.
Through the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become clear we’re behind the rest of the developed world and at the mercy of foreign manufacturers. The Greens will drive a jobs-rich manufacturing revival, investing $12 billion in a new Manufacturing Australia Fund, to modernise and expand Australian manufacturing, including building jobs-rich green steel hubs in Queensland.
Living here in Lilley, on Turrbal land, I acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. Australia lags behind other Commonwealth countries in failing to achieve a Treaty process with its First Nations peoples. The Greens will work alongside and support First Nations peoples to keep Treaty on the national agenda.
We can have a society that puts people before profits and ensures we all have a healthy planet for future generations. We need strong voices calling for change and to provide our community with policies designed to build a future for us all. I will be that voice for Lilley.
Will you join me in the fight for our democracy and our children’s futures?