The swing to the Greens in Tweed is a great result for voters and shows the party now presents a real alternative in the region, according to Greens candidate for the recent State election, Andrea Vickers.
“We’ve nearly doubled our primary vote, with a 6.8 per cent swing, leading to 15.2 per cent at the finish line. That’s the fourth highest swing to the Greens in NSW, and it’s almost five times the average Greens swing of 1.4 per cent Statewide,” she said.
“This is really a remarkable result.
“We came within 2000 votes of Labor in Tweed, and the Byron and Lismore Greens both eclipsed the Labor candidates to achieve over 20 per cent of the primary vote. The Greens are clearly a rising tide in Northern NSW.
“I campaigned strongly on over-development, and on putting trust and accountability back into politics. I think this result shows that people in Tweed are still very concerned about those things, and they’ve given Geoff Provest a strong message that they want action.
“The number one reason I ran is because I think Australians have the right to expect that their system of government will work, and that when they vote, their vote will really mean something.
“I’m also the only candidate who stood with Philip Nitschke to support the right of terminally ill people to die with dignity.
“Congratulations to everyone who voted Green: you got great value for your vote. You sent a real message about what’s important to local people.
“Mr Provest is in government now, and Tweed voters will be interested to see if he can give us real results on services, transport, development controls, and cleaning up politics in Tweed and in NSW.”
Andrea said this was her first political campaign but would not be her last.
“It’s been great to learn more about the Tweed community, to meet people from around the electorate, and listen to their concerns,”
she said.
“I’ve learned a lot about local people, local issues, and what I can do to help. I really enjoyed the experience. I’ve grown from it, and I’ll continue to be engaged with politics and the
Tweed community.”
