When asked to describe herself in three words, Greens candidate for New England Wendy Wales chose ‘eco green feminist’.
The former teacher, activist and conservationist has lived in Muswellbrook since 1995 and is known for her community contributions and passion for instilling a love of the environment and learning to students at Muswellbrook High School.
Prior to living in Muswellbrook, Ms Wales lived in Armidale, studying education at the University of New England and becoming involved in the peace movement and the local National Parks Association.
Ms Wales’s environmental advocacy includes an attempt to save the train into Newcastle city centre, participating in Newcastle Harbour Blockades and speaking at the Independent Planning Commission hearings on behalf of the DAMS HEG.
She was motivated to run in this election by her grandsons, particularly their love of nature.
“One of my grandsons just sees the smallest things happening like tiny little caterpillars that drop on silk thread from oak trees, things that are unnoticeable,” Wendy shared
“I’m broken hearted that I can’t take him to the Barrier Reef and show him what I saw when I was 18, it’s not there.”
To combat this environmental heartbreak, Wendy found comfort in the Greens.
“Their message, their optimism, the people that throw up solutions and find pathways,” Wendy said.
“When most other parties are digging us deeper into the issues, into the problem, we’re going deep.”
While nominating to run in the federal election was out of Ms Wales comfort zone, she now believes she could have done it a long time ago.
“I liken it to teaching because that was initially out of my comfort zone, but when you get over your self-judgement and criticism, you learn so much and gain so many skills,” she said.
Ms Wales says that she wants to be part of bringing Greens ideas forward and has enjoyed learning about processes so far.
“Having spent a bit of time at Parliament House in Sydney not so long ago and just seeing how people are under the pump – it’s like a school staffroom with bells going all the time, the teamwork and there’s a real tingle,” she said.
“There could be a tingle for the good stuff if more people were to open their hearts to that possibility.”
As the election creeps closer, Ms Wales will focus her campaigning on cost of living and the roll out of renewable energy zones within the region.
“We’ve got both the Hunter Renewable Energy Zone and the New England Renewable Energy Zone with transmission lines coming through Muswellbrook and impacting locals on both sides of the highway,” she said.
“The rollout needs to be negotiated with landowners and with the community so there’s wins for everybody and we will get cheaper energy for it.”
Ms Wales also hopes to address climate change as part of the cost of living.
“[Climate change] is impacting our cost of living in food security and infrastructure damage but the Greens have a plan to combat that,” she said.
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