Carmel McCallum is having another tilt at gaining the Federal seat of Gilmore for the Greens, hopeful that the strong performance of her party in the recent council elections will give extra momentum to her campaign.

In Kiama, the Greens obtained 27 per cent of the vote (two councillors); in Shoalhaven 34.3 per cent of the vote (four councillors including the returning Mayor); and in Eurobodalla 11.5 per cent of the vote (one councill- or who was then elected Deputy Mayor).

“In the last two and a half years, people have really seen that voting for the other two parties has not really helped us,” she says.

“We are still going headlong into what seems like a disaster at the moment, and we are still unprepared.

“I think the time has come – people can see the potential for the Greens to influence decisions, to have the balance of power.

“They can see the Greens have been talking about these things [the need for action on climate change] for so long now – 30 years – and the importance of what we have been talking about has now been realised by most people.

“One of the major parties is finally talking about it, but they are still not fully committed.

“We will continue to stand on our principles, rather than trying to please everyone.”

Ms McCallum finds the Morrison Government’s stand on climate change embarrassing.

“At Glasgow, Morrison was speaking to an empty room. They are so motivated to keep us using fossil fuels, and it is almost like they are totally oblivious. 

“You have to ask, how can they be held in this sort of parallel universe that they are helping to destroy the planet?

“I feel I need to be there pointing out the fact that in Australia it is the fossil fuel companies, the banks and the great big accounting companies that seem to be writing policy for this Government, and it is all tied up with political donations.”

She believes that not only should Australia join the rest of the world in moving forward on climate change, but it should increase its foreign aid budget to assist those who can’t afford it.

“We’ve been lucky twice – we have all the resources, but we also have sun and wind. Not every country has a choice, and we shouldn’t benefit because we do and they don’t.”

One of the Greens’ policies to raise money for policies such as free TAFE and university education and an expansion of housing and health services, is to implement a super profits tax of 40 per cent on corporations earning over $100 million in profit, and a 6 per cent wealth tax on billionaires.

“Many of these billionaires are just not contributing to the tax system – one in three big corporations don’t pay any tax,” says Ms McCallum.

They are also looking to stimulate the economy by rebuilding infrastructure and retrofitting for climate change.

“One of our policies is 700 per cent renewable energy, which is about exporting renewables – hydrogen, batteries, whatever,” she says.

“We create jobs here and value add to resources, and export to countries currently dependent on fossil fuels.”

Ms McCallum retired as a pharmacist at the time of the last election, but has only just stepped down as the Vice President of her union, Professional Pharmacists Australia – a division of Professional Australia.

In that role, she was involved in running the first work value case in the Fair Work Commission.

“It was a very difficult thing to do, and despite having the research behind us of how the profession has changed, we could only compare ourselves to other poorly paid professions,” she says.

A resident of Cambewarra, she has also been involved since that time with two new grandchildren and become an active member of the local CWA.

“I am the Agriculture and Environment Officer, and I try to keep them informed about what is happening on those fronts. People are really keen to do practical things to help.”

While she says she regards the current Member for Gilmore, Fiona Phillips, as “a good, hardworking, honest person who has grown up in the area”, she isn’t as flattering about the Liberal candidate, Andrew Constance.

“As soon as people ask him about climate change he talks about PTSD. I don’t think I have heard him say anything about climate change,” she says.

“Communities were severely affected in Eurobodalla, and there are people still living in tents or caravans.

“There is nearly $5 billion in the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, headed by ex-Liberal Party President Shane Stone, and it is sitting there not being spent since it was set up in 2016.”

She believes that many people in Gilmore aren’t aware of the ‘debacles’ Mr Constance presided over as Transport Minister, such as the light rail systems not being compatible with each other and defects in new ferries and trams.

She is particularly suspicious of a recent announcement by the Federal Government that its preferred nuclear submarine and armaments bases are now Port Kembla and Brisbane, as she sees it as a smokescreen for the election.

“Neither was favoured by the Navy in its 2011 review,” she says. 

“Port Kembla is too small and was eliminated very early.

“Sydney was the preferred option and sites in Jervis Bay were options two and three.”

She has a very real concern that, after the election, plans will firm up on Jervis Bay.

 “Was the Morrison announcement creating a distraction from his mishandling of the unprecedented floods in Northern NSW? Or was it just about clinging to power in a khaki-election thought bubble?

“Gilmore is not up for grabs for a desperate government which dances to the tunes of the nuclear and fossil fuel industries, or a representative that doesn’t care about the beautiful environment of Jervis Bay.”

The latter is a reference to a report in The Guardian, during the 2019 state election, that Mr Constance “criticised NSW bureaucrats responsible for the marine parks for enforcing the sanctuary zones”.