Happy holidays to you and your family, and thank you for the wonderful year.
This is just a short note to wish you a Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a joyful end to 2023.
For many in our community it hasn’t been an easy year. I hope you can use this time over the new year to take stock, relax with loved ones, and come back stronger in 2024.
I also want to thank everyone who’s shared their ideas and concerns with me in 2023 — whether over email, at my pop-up offices, in Town Halls or out on the street.
My team estimates we’ve had over 40,000 conversations with members of the community this year. Every one of those conversations has bettered our democracy. A community Independent is only as good as her community, and fortunately Kooyong is the best community in the country.
Here’s a quick look back at what we’ve achieved.
In Parliament, we started the year by calling for the government to halve the cost of many common prescription medications — a call that was later answered, saving 6 million Australians hundreds of dollars a year.
We quickly followed that by hosting our first Town Hall meeting of the year — one of three we held — which was attended by over 400 of you.
In April, I joined my fellow crossbenchers in urging the Federal Government to raise the JobSeeker rate in their upcoming Budget — another call the government (reluctantly) answered. At the same time, they also responded to pressure from the crossbench to increase the single mothers’ benefit payment, lifting many Australian families out of poverty.
We routinely held the government to account on climate change, calling out legislation which sold us short on potential tax income from the gas industry; set in place inadequate limits on emissions from big polluters; and gave the green light for large-scale carbon dioxide dumping under international seabeds. We’ll continue to make the case for the clean, green economy of the future, in which Australia leads the world as a renewable energy superpower.
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Throughout 2023 we hosted 23 pop-up offices across the electorate to make sure we were hearing your ideas and concerns as best we can.
In July, the National Anti-Corruption Commission opened its doors — our community demanded this integrity measure at the last election. The NACC is a wonderful achievement for democracy. It wouldn’t have happened if Australian communities hadn’t voted for integrity-minded Independents who have held the Morrison and Albanese governments to account.
Then there was the Middle Arm gas project in Darwin Harbour. In August, we brought 80 doctors down to Canberra to sound the alarm over the controversial Middle Arm project, which would unleash 1.4 billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. By October we had won an inquiry into the project, and by December Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles had resigned following months of pressure related to her conflicts of interest on fossil fuel developments.
Throughout the year we held community meetings about the things which matter to you; housing, scams protections, tax reform, industrial relations, and the NDIS. I’ve also met with young people’s groups about climate change, the Voice, lowering the voting age, HECS affordability and cost of living pressures.
In October, we helped run the fantastic Electrify Boroondara Expo, which saw thousands of people in our community learn more about saving on their power bills by electrifying their homes and their cars. In the same month, thanks to over 700 volunteers, we ran a local Voice to Parliament campaign which saw Kooyong record one of the highest Yes votes in the country.
In November, we launched the national #CleanUpPoliticsAct campaign to shine a light on lobbying in this country. We’ve already received more than 6,000 petition signatures and secured an inquiry into lobbying. You’ll hear a lot more from me about this next year. We won’t stop until the #CleanUpPoliticsAct is passed.
November was a busy month. We put the Hawthorn to Box Hill bike path back on the national agenda, urging the Federal and Victorian Governments to finally get moving on this project, which has been a community priority for decades. I finished the year by discussing cost of living pressure on Q +A, detailing how the government must address housing affordability and availability, climate change and intergenerational inequity by getting real value from our mineral and fossil fuel exports. I also addressed the elephant in the room - the need for an evidence-based whole of system review of our tax system, to render it future-proof and ensure our future wealth.
Last but not least, I’ve been advocating more than most to reduce prices by increasing competition — in our supermarket sector and in our aviation sector. My speech in Parliament on Coles and Woolworths’ price gouging received over 5 million views across Instagram and TikTok. The lack of competition in many sectors of our economy keeps prices high and impacts the services we receive. As an independent who has already helped disrupt one duopoly — the Liberals and Labor — I can safely say more competition is a good thing.
Pushing the government to do more on cost of living, climate change, and integrity: that’s what you want me to do, and that’s what I have been doing. Inside and out of Kooyong, we have achieved a lot. There’s plenty more to do.
Thanks for all your support. I look forward to seeing you in 2024.
All the best,