The ACT Greens have today announced that Tim Hollo will once again run for the seat of Canberra, alongside academic and Wakka Wakka woman, Dr Tjanara Goreng Goreng, who will seek to secure the ACT's second Senate seat.
Tim and Tjanara bring a wealth of experience from the NGO, university, public and community sectors, as well as a lifetime of community and environmental activism.
"We're excited to build on the momentum of the 2020 ACT election and bring the progressive voice of this fantastic community into parliament", they said on Thursday.
"Canberrans have seen what Greens in government can achieve, from powering the ACT with 100% renewable electricity to massive investments in affordable housing and mental health."
"The ACT is the Greenest jurisdiction in the country, and our community cares deeply about vital issues like climate action, housing affordability, donation reform and government accountability," Hollo said today.
"Canberrans want and deserve Federal representatives with the independence and integrity to stand up for what they and their community believes in," said Goreng Goreng.
Tim Hollo is a writer, a musician, executive director of the Green Institute, and a Visiting Fellow at the ANU's RegNet, who secured an off-trend 4.6% swing at the last federal election.
He founded Green Music Australia and Canberra's local Buy Nothing Groups, having previously worked for Greenpeace, 350, the Nature Conservation Council and Greens Senator Christine Milne, where he helped negotiate Australia's carbon price and the establishment of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
"I've spent years working in and with the community, and that gives me great faith in democracy - if we make it work. I know from personal experience that people not only can work together, but that our communities and democracy work best when we all take part, when every voice is heard. That's what I want to bring to the House of Representatives," Hollo said.
Tjanara Goreng Goreng Goreng will seek to unseat Zed Seselja, who forms part of the hard-right block of the Liberal party, by growing what is already the highest Greens Senate vote in the country.
Goreng Goreng brings a wealth of experience, having worked as a senior public servant in the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet, alongside front line roles in homelessness support, women's refuges and remote Indigenous communities.
Dr Goreng Goreng is currently an academic at ACU and secretary of the Australian Greens First Nations Network.
"As a senior First Nations woman, I have a responsibility to challenge the system which continues to deny First Nations people sovereignty, justice and the ability to implement our law - the oldest in existence', she said on Thursday
"I'm running for the Senate because I've seen up close the power that government has to transform the lives of people and communities, and the devastation and pain that can be caused when government fails to listen, to empathise, and to do the right thing."
ACT Greens Parliamentary Leader Shane Rattenbury noted 'the 2019 and 2020 election campaigns saw a substantiation swing towards the Greens, along with a surge in new members and volunteers.
With the election of six Greens MLA's and signing of an historic Parliamentary and Governing Agreement, the ACT Greens have never been more ready to represent the ACT in the federal parliament'.
Minister Rebecca Vassarotti, also in attendance, emphasised the overlap between the seat of Kurrajong, where the Greens secured a second seat in the Legislative Assembly, and the Federal seat of Canberra. 'The inner Suburbs of Canberra are some of the Greenest in the country, and if the voting trends we've seen the last three elections continue then I'm confident that we'll see Tim representing this caring and connected community in Federal parliament.
Note: You can find the biographies of Tim Hollo and Tjanara Goreng Goreng on our website.
