With climate change proving to be one of the key battlegrounds in the electorate of Hume in the lead up to the federal election, enter Greens candidate Karen Stewart.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Residing in Camden and running her own accounting business, Ms Stewart wants to see more accountability in government.
"For the last few years, I don't feel that there's been good oversight or accountability," Ms Stewart said.
"That is certainly something that I get frustrated about, especially given I'm an accountant."
Ms Stewart is a mother of four who grew up in Dubbo before moving to Maroubra in Sydney for her studies.
She said her family had always been very political, and the Stewart name has certainly made headlines over the past couple of years.
In 2021 her family spoke out openly about her brother Tim Stewart's involvement with QAnon and his close proximity to prime minister Scott Morrison.
"Recently, we had to talk candidly about family members who'd been radicalized by the QAnon conspiracy theory," Ms Stewart said.
"That was an extremely difficult thing to do because you choose to honour the society and your own community above the family relationship that you would normally hold dear.
"But it was a very dangerous situation and I felt that the Prime Minister very much dismissed what we were saying."
Watching family members turn to conspiracy theories is what led Ms Stewart to align herself so deeply with the Greens' policy of providing free and quality education to all.
"We have to ask why there's a rise of anti science sentiment, especially against things like climate change, and say 'okay, could better education have stopped this?'," she said.
However, she was heartened by the efforts of Goulburn locals to respond to climate change so far.
"I think Goulburn looks like they're on the ball, certainly with taking taking environmental issues seriously," she said.
She praised the Goulburn community solar project as well as the installation of the TESLA supercharger station for electric vehicles.
"I think that was a really good win and shows that scientists are supported by industry, but not by this federal government," Ms Stewart said.
She believed it was a shame that residents in the Hume electorate were taking action on climate change without committed government support.
"It's a broad electorate, we have the north part which is quite urbanised and then you have other parts which are very rural and regional," Ms Stewart said.
"So to cover all of those I think you can't ignore climate change because it affects so many people in different ways.
"We have the floods here in Camden, we've had bushfires a bit further south, and we're going to have a water crisis with agriculture as well."
Ms Stewart said she understood the impact of natural disasters having had to evacuate her home and office twice in a month.
"I can't walk past climate change," she said.
"Even raising my children, we had a day called sustainable Saturday where we would switch off the fuse box and and pass a day spending time together without electricity. It was something that reminded us that we do have a responsibility to the environment."
When asked about recent protests by health workers and nurses, Ms Steward told the Post that she believed the issues raised needed to be taken seriously.
"I think that the government ignores many protests, and as individuals, we all want to feel that we're heard and taken seriously," she said.
However, she did not provide any specifics about Greens' policy that would address the issues in the region.
Ms Stewart joins independent Penny Ackery and Labor candidate Greg Baines in running against current Hume MP Angus Taylor in a safe Liberal seat.
However, both Mr Baines and Ms Ackery have said they felt there was an appetite for change in the region heading towards the May 21 election.
Ms Stewart said it wasn't necessarily about winning for her but ensuring voters knew there were other options.
"I think is important, regardless of whether people are there to win or not, that people know yes, we hear you.
"We can still work with other other candidates and be part of the debate not just during an election campaign, but by being visible throughout the years between an election and by working as a community," Ms Stewart said.
We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.
Did you know the Goulburn Post is now offering breaking news alerts and a weekly email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up below.
