1.  When and why did you decide to become a politician?
I have been a member of the Greens throughout my university years, which I completed in 2006. The 2007 Federal election has been the starting point for my entry into politics, spurred by the urgency and enormity of the problems now facing the planet, and observing the inspirational efforts of Senators Bob Brown and Christine Milne in bravely tackling these challenges.

2.  What do you think are the issues that matter to young people?
The issues of importance to young people have the same scope as those facing older people, but with even more emphasis on the big problems of the future: taking serious action to address climate change and water, ensuring job security and fair conditions of work, maintaining investment in public education and health, and ensuring an independent role for Australia in world affairs based on human rights. Particular issues for young people include affordable rental housing and the increasing cost of education. 

3.  How do you plan to address these issues?

• The Greens have a real plan for tackling climate change based on what the science says we need, not what the coal industry is prepared to accept.
• We want to shred all of Work Choices not just tinker around the edges of Howard's workplace laws.
• We would prioritise funding of public schools, universities and technical colleges as well as public hospitals. The government has tipped the balance too far to private schools and private health insurance companies.
• We need to withdraw Australia's troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and work for real action on global poverty. Our policy must be based on human rights not what George Bush wants.
• We would scrap university fees for domestic students and cancel HECS/HELP debts; we want education funding based on need, with a focus on public education.

4.  How do you engage with young people to find out what issues matter to them?
Being a young person myself, at 25 years of age, I am familiar first hand with the issues of importance facing the youth of today. I have studied for five years at the University of Tasmania, and four years at Charles Sturt University, NSW, and am currently enrolled in the College of Law, Melbourne, through which I have interacted with countless young, first and second time voters. From my perspective, the recurring issues raised my contemporaries as critical to their vote are access to education, action on climate change, and preservation of the environment for future generations.

5.  What did you care about when you were a young voter?
I still consider myself a young voter, and my primary concerns revolve around the legacy this generation is leaving for the next – the quality of life is being degraded by excessive carbon dioxide emissions, logging of our native forests, degradation of our farmlands through plantations, and decimation of humanitarianism through the current treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.  Access to education, and affordability, is also a key issue.

6.  What is your opinion of young people in Australia?
They are as concerned and engaged as any generation. I have been impressed and inspired by many young people's desire for change and willingness to take action on the big issues, like climate change.

7.  How do you think our political system can better engage with younger voters?
Change the voting age to give 16-18 year olds a vote.

8.  What are the key long-term challenges facing Australia?

• Tackling the threats of climate change, water and degradation of the environment.
• Dealing with the gap between rich and poor which is growing in Australia and globally.
• Dealing with the many conflicts that exist in our region and will get worse because of those problems.

9.  If you could change one thing about Australia what would it be?

I would change the short-sightedness of the current leadership and plan for a sustainable future, ending the exploitation of our natural resources, and addressing the important long-term issues such as climate change.

10.  Describe a time when your political opinion was challenged or changed.
The Howard Government’s unlawful pre-emptive intervention in Iraq, and lack of action on Guantanamo Bay, galvanised my support for the Greens, against the unhealthily ‘close’ relationship with the Bush administration.

11.  What’s your favourite thing about your electorate?
Tasmania has some of the most diverse landscapes and rich history in Australia, and is still a ‘hidden gem’ in many ways, I am very fortunate to have grown up on such a beautiful island.

12.  What do you do to relax?
Walks along the beach with my dogs and exploring the Tasmanian wilderness.