OUTSTANDING GREEN LIGHT CANDIDATES

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David Zaloudek

GREEN LIGHT CANDIDATES

Ellie Smith

Vinnie Batten

To give everyone an idea of what the two Federal Traffic Light Voting Guides will look like, scroll down below to mock-ups from the 2022 Federal Election for the Bradfield House of Representatives seat and the Victorian Senate vacancies .

Both your local, and state or territory senate 2025 Traffic Light Voting Guides will be not be published on each electorate page until after the ballot draw in late April. In the meantime you can learn about how to effectively use Traffic Light Voting Guides for the upcoming Federal election by watching our video and familiarising yourself with its instructions.

Scroll further down this page to learn more about the Green Light candidates in Dickson.

Green Light Candidates

David Zaloudek (LCP)

David qualifies as an Outstanding Green Light Candidate

David Zaloudek is a Bachelor of Commerce graduate with over 20 years of experience in client-facing business roles, including Account Management, Business Development and Financial Advice. Currently he is transitioning his career into Community Services, driven by his passion for improving the lives of people in his community.

Like many Australians with health concerns, David turned to medicinal cannabis for pain relief and improved wellness after struggling with bouts of depression. He was delighted to find cannabis to be an effective, safe and natural remedy for his ailments. However, he quickly became aware of Australia’s cannabis drug-driving laws, which impose severe consequences on medicinal cannabis users who test positive for THC during a random roadside drug test (RDT), regardless of impairment.

These penalties—including fines, licence suspension or loss, a criminal record and voided car insurance—can have devastating effects. Many face job loss, limited future employment opportunities, loss of custody of children and financial ruin simply for having THC in their system.

As a cannabis user, activist, and advocate, David is committed to driving positive change for cannabis in Australia. He supports:

✅ A fully regulated cannabis industry
✅ Reformed drug-driving laws based on impairment, not mere presence of THC
✅ Easier access to medicinal cannabis
✅ The right for Australians to grow their own cannabis
✅ Legalisation of recreational and medicinal use
✅ Expungement of past cannabis-related criminal convictions

David is dedicated to ensuring that all Australians have the freedom to choose cannabis without fear of unjust penalties or discrimination.

LCP endorses the 3R’s and supports the Climate Rescue Accord

Ellie Smith (Independent)

Ellie is part of the Community Independents Project

Growing up in Queensland, my parents worked hard to give my sisters and I a great start in life. They both ran small businesses, Dad in construction and Mum in retail, until she later retrained as a social worker. Their hard work and resilience through the ups and downs taught me the value of small business to our economy and shaped my lifelong support for local businesses.

Skilled in policy and stakeholder management

After graduating with Honours in Environmental Management from the University of Queensland, I built my career in policy, government and stakeholder relations. Over the past decade, I’ve helped farmers, policymakers, and conservationists find common ground and smart solutions that benefit all Queenslanders. I‘ve also held board roles for a number of environmental organisations. These experiences showed me the power of locals working together to achieve great things, and gave me the strong policy and negotiation skills I will bring as your independent candidate for Dickson.

Committed to our community

Since buying our first (and forever) home in Camp Mountain in 2017, my partner, son and I have become active members of our community. I’m a proud soccer mum and school P&C volunteer. Becoming a mum deepened my drive to leave a liveable planet for future generations by protecting the natural beauty of our creeks and bushland – home to our precious koalas and other wildlife. I’m also committed to supporting local jobs and businesses and, like most of you, I’ve experienced firsthand how important it is to fix our roads and transport. Surviving cancer in 2017 has reinforced my determination to fight for well-funded healthcare for every Australian.

Ellie’s answer to our questions on climate

Thank you for reaching out and asking about my position on climate change. My policies reflect the 3Rs of the Climate Rescue Accord. I appreciate your dedication and effort to help voters make an informed decision.

After months of engaging with local families, businesses, community organisations, and civic leaders in Dickson, we developed my policy priorities based on their feedback. They have expressed a strong desire for me to focus on:

• Living better – reducing our cost of living, tackling housing affordability and properly funding healthcare.  
• Keeping small business in business – supporting our small businesses with simpler, lower taxes and less red tape.
• Growing thriving communities – creating opportunities for connection at every stage of life, investing in education, training and opportunities for our young people.
• Fixing our roads and transport – funding the public transport we deserve and prioritising congestion-busting road improvements so we can get around easier and bring down our living costs.
• Protecting our homes and our kids’ future – Supporting climate resilience to  protect our homes and our local environment and securing a brighter future for our kids.

For more information on my policies please visit Ellie Smith policies

Regarding climate change, having regard for the strong interest in environmental and climate outcomes from our community (based on our surveying) I will vote for stronger mitigation targets and actions as well as focusing on the cost of living and climate resilience measures that come with proactive action. You have likely seen the Grattan institute suggested a larger cross bench committed to integrity and strong public policy could be part of the solution to intractable public policy issues in their report Gridlock.

My policy priority of “Protecting our homes and our kids’ future” addresses my climate commitments if elected.  I am committed to 

• Reforming our national environment laws: To provide better protection for bushland and real action on extinctions. This is an area that major parties have failed to address despite promises from the Labor party at the last election. It has become clear that only a strong cross bench will enable our parliament to unlock the gridlock that has developed around this issue.

• Champion renewables and cut pollution: So we power everything we can with clean, cheap energy from wind and sun. By my estimates over 60% of houses in Dickson have solar. We are an electorate that clearly sees the benefits of solar to cut pollution and power bills. My focus if elected will be easing cost of living pressures on households and I will support more subsidies for batteries and solar for households and small businesses – such as warehouses in Brendale. 

• Reject nuclear: Ensure Australia’s future is renewable, not radioactive. My position on Nuclear, is that Mr Dutton seeks to distract and divide the community by championing controversial issues. Nuclear is one of those distractions.  64% of households in Dickson have solar on our roof – we know what the cheapest, cleanest source of electricity is. My focus if elected will be easing cost of living pressures on households and I will support more subsidies for batteries and solar for households and small businesses. 

• Stop the climate wreckers: I will act on evidence and the international energy agency advice. I will oppose the approval of new coal and gas projects as they are globally unnecessary.  

If I am elected I will also make it easier for community members and organisations to access government grants, like funding that was available to support community batteries for household grants.  I will actively and enthusiastically support and advocate for funding to support community initiatives  that deliver better outcomes for Dickson. 

This is the difference with a community independent. I will listen to the views of community members like yourself and always consult with experts to ensure I, and the community, are well informed.

Thank you again for engaging with me on this matter. If you have any further questions or thoughts, feel free to get in touch anytime.

Warm regards,

Ellie Smith

Independent Candidate for Dickson

Vinnie Batten (Greens)

I’m an environmental scientist, disability and health advocate, and para athlete.

The current political system is failing Australians. Key decisions are being made for short-term political gain rather than the long-term interests of us all. This continues the status quo of inequality in our communities, and the exploitation of our planet. 

I’m running for the Greens because I want to stand up for everyday Australians. 

I grew up in a rural area in a working-class family. I was born with a condition called Fibular Hemimelia resulting in a shorter left leg, which required many surgeries throughout my youth. This experience showed me at a young age how policies like public healthcare cannot be taken for granted, and must be fought for to not only win, but protect.

I was the first in my family to earn a degree, moving to Brisbane to attain a Bachelor of Environmental Science. Now working as a manager in a not-for-profit table tennis club, I spend my time growing a highly accessible sport and fostering a rich community of people coming together over a shared lifelong passion. While I love community building on a local level, I still feel a deep responsibility to contribute to building a better society for all Australians.

I will be your voice in federal parliament to push for strong action on the climate crisis, tackle inequality to take care of our vulnerable, and make billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share to fund the quality services and safe and affordable housing that a wealthy country like Australia can afford.

I would love to hear your thoughts, ideas and concerns as we work together to make Dickson and Australia a better place to live. 

With your support, we can send a message that we’re fed up with the major parties and put the Greens into balance of power, where we’ll fight relentlessly to create a fairer future for all of us. 

Will you join me?