Victorian Greens Leader Ellen Sandell will use the party's Campaign Conference on Saturday to make the Greens' clearest pitch yet to young people and voters fed up with the major parties, declaring the Greens are 'not just here to pressure Labor, we're here to replace them'.
In the major vision-setting speech Sandell will position housing affordability and economic fairness at the centre of the Greens' election campaign, with Sandell foreshadowing major upcoming housing announcements aimed at helping ordinary people into homes and rebalancing a housing system increasingly stacked against younger generations.
The Greens will unveil a new $18 billion 'Fair Share Plan' to make the big banks, gambling corporations, fossil fuel giants and wealthy property developers pay more tax to fund permanently free public transport, more renewable energy and more public housing.
The speech also marks a major escalation in the Victorian Greens' positioning towards Labor, with Sandell arguing the Allan Labor Government has become too focussed on clinging to power rather than solving the crises communities are facing.
The party's campaign conference will also feature international organisers and campaigners from major progressive movements overseas, including from the campaign of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Later in the day Sandell will interview UK Greens Leader Zack Polanski, whose party has surged against amidst growing dissatisfaction with Labour.
In her speech, Sandell will argue that Victoria is experiencing the same political conditions driving these progressive insurgent movements overseas, as more voters abandon the major parties and that the Greens are ready to win more lower house seats off both Labor and the Liberals this November.
As stated by the Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell:
"Even if you work hard and do everything right, it's getting harder to get ahead and people are fed up.
"Labor keeps asking you to vote for them, while refusing to make the big changes people need.
"People are done with a Labor government that's more interested in protecting their own power than solving the big problems that people are facing.
"The Greens aren't here to make Labor better. We're here to replace them."
"The time to break the two-party system is now. This is the Greens' moment, and we're ready to win more seats in November"
"The Greens are the only party with a real plan to fix the system - to make housing affordable, cap rents, take real climate action and finally make big corporations pay their fair share to fund the things we all need to live a decent life, like free public transport and renewable energy to bring down energy bills"
"If we want things to change, we can't keep settling for less. This election, people have the chance to demand better by voting Greens."
