Green candidate Felicity Townsend’s campaign launch for Freo

I took my camera along to the iconic Fremantle watering hole Clancy’s fully expecting the focus to be on Felicity Townsend, a community services worker who became a Greens voter, a party member and ultimately a candidate over her disappointment with the policies of the State Labor government (in other words, a familiar story).

Felicity Townsend. Credit Mark Naglazas

However, as I sat Townsend down for a shot with the historic Elder’s Wood Stores in the background the party’s young elder statesman, current upper house member Brad Pettitt sat down next to her, followed by Sophie McNeill, who has second spot on the upper house ticket, then Greens federal candidate for Fremantle Amy Warne, then Adam Bennett (Bicton) and finally Robyn Walsh (Bibra Lake).

Top left to right: Adam Bennett, Amy Warne, Sophie McNeill, Robyn Walsh, Felicity Townsend and Brad Pettitt. Redit Mark Naglazas

In other words, the Freo-centred Greens army had gathered as much to support Townsend in her battle to unseat incumbent Freo MLA, Labor’s Simone McGurk, as a show of force for a party that could put as many as six members into the upper house of the Western Australian parliament because of the McGowan government’s 2021 abolition of regions and the adoption of preferential system of voting for the upper house (it is now a single electorate with 37 members).

The upbeat mood of the candidates outside of Clancy’s was matched by the full house inside, with warm-up act Kiera Jas getting everyone in the mood with a rendition of Bob Dylan’s Knocking on Heaven’s Door. Dylan’s paradise in this context was Pettitt, McNeill and other Greens looking forward to being welcomed into the house on the hill. I would have loved a version of Beyonce’s Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) to mourn Pettitt’s final days on his own in the WA parliament.

Before the speeches began a face that was manning the merchandise table caught my attention. It was Matilda Lane-Rose, the 20-year-old climate activist who just a few days ago was back in the news, pleading guilty (along with three others) for targeting the home of Woodside boss Meg O’Neill. Lane-Rose is now working for the Greens and couldn’t be more excited by her new job.

Matilda Lane-Rose

“So many people have come up to me and said, ‘I love your work. I wish I could have done what you did’,” she tells me in between greeting people, taking down names and handing out stickers.

“I started handing out ‘How to vote’ cards before I could vote — when I was 15. I’m so excited about the election and working with people who care so much about the future of the planet,” a bubbly life force you would struggle to reconcile with the image put out by the mainstream media of a young radical terrorising the Western suburbs.

Not surprisingly, the candidate everyone wanted to talk to was McNeill, the Walkley Award-winning former ABC journalist best known for her unflinching reports from the Middle East. I managed to grab Sophie for a couple of moments before she jumped on stage to stir the masses to a cause for which she left a high-profile career in the media.

Sophie McNeill, credit Mark Naglazas

“People are really worried about the state of the world, and I think the Greens are the answer and that’s because you can just see how much we can change things and how much we can make things better,” says McNeill, a “proud Freo local” and whose father was the inaugural Dockers football manager Gerard McNeill, who is amongst the high-profile club supporters attempting to force the club to to rethink its lucrative Woodside sponsorship arrangement.

“Look at America and its two major parties and their support for the horrific genocide in Gaza,” continues McNeill. “And neither have been ambitious enough on climate action. We are incredibly lucky in this country because of the system that we have. We have a viable third party that is the only credible voice on human rights in our parliament.”

By the time Townsend took the stage the crowd had been warmed up by a series of stirring speeches referencing climate change, the genocide in Gaza, the billionaires who have been dominating the headlines, the cost of living, the housing crisis, Labor’s broken promises, the betrayal of the LGBTQ community and the fantastic opportunity to grab the balance of power that had the faithful calling and responding, as if Clancy’s had turned into a church in the American South.

“Six years ago I could not have imagined being here and doing this,” said Townsend. “But after working in community services for years it became clear to me that while there are positive effects of local action, working within a broken system can only get you so far. If you want to make a substantial difference you have to change the system.”

In her speech Townsend, with her background as a community worker, put special emphasis on the housing crisis.

“I’ve been out door-knocking in the community and have been hearing about the change they want. With housing and the cost of living coming up consistently as concerns for people. Those that are lucky enough to not to have been impacted by the housing crisis directly almost always have friends and kids that have.

“With many people telling me they are back living with their parents, or their adult children have moved back home. People are hurting. With rent in Freo increasing almost 50% since the last state election and the majority of people experiencing housing stress.”

These are, of course, traditional Labor concerns, but the Greens are no longer a single-issue party and will be less so when Pettitt is joined by McNeill and others in the next parliament, where they will have increased numbers and the confidence to speak out on matters far outside their wheelhouse. Indeed, at last night’s launch there was as much talk about human rights as the climate crisis.

“The climate crisis is the biggest human rights crisis, which is why I am running,” McNeill tells me. “I left my job at the ABC at Four Corners to go and work as a climate campaigner, because I realised that if we don’t get this one right, none of the other things I care about matter.

“Whether it’s speaking out against the genocide in Gaza or putting a roof over your head in Freo the Greens are the ones who are that consistent, organised voice for human rights. I’ve spent my life fighting for human rights so it is a no brainer.”

* By Mark Naglazas

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