I’m a trade unionist, a socialist and a Northcote renter. I grew up here, going to school and getting my first job in the area.
For almost a decade I worked on the railways, becoming the first female RTBU delegate at Flinders Street station. I organised rank-and-file actions in my workplace to improve wages and conditions, and in 2015 I helped lead the first strike on the Victorian railways in 17 years.
Through the pandemic, my workmates and I successfully fought for key health and safety provisions, including paid pandemic leave. I also served as the RTBU women's officer, campaigning to improve conditions for women in this male dominated industry. As a socialist, I worked to bring important political questions into my union activism, including campaigns for climate justice, marriage equality and solidarity with refugees.
I became a socialist because I was sickened by the fact we live in a world where human life is a tenth-rate concern to the people in power, who always put profits first. From destroying the planet, to using racism to distract and divide us, and forcing the working class to pay for the cost-of-living crisis, capitalism fails to provide for the vast majority.
I’m sick of politicians who mouth nice words about reform while serving big business interests. I will fight for housing for all, for genuine universal healthcare that’s free and accessible no matter where you’re from, to defund the racist police force, and to reverse privatisation, which has seen the cost of essential services spiral.