Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (10:32): It has been 12 years since I was first elected as the Greens MP for Melbourne, and what an honour it has been to represent such a compassionate and diverse community. Over those 12 years we have achieved some incredible change. In my first few years in Parliament, together with the community, our campaigns saved Royal Park from the east–west toll road, banned gas fracking in Victoria, stopped a gas terminal in Western Port and won key rights for renters. In the last few years we have built on this and won funding to keep our community health GP clinics open, new schools in Docklands and North Melbourne, millions for upgrades in Kensington and Carlton, funding for our neighbourhood houses and action to keep big trucks off local Kensington streets. We used our balance-of-power position in the upper house to negotiate hard and win more homes on the rental market, with taxes on empty homes and real regulations for Airbnb; $15 million per year for new bike lanes; $60 million for climate action, including for Landcare and grants to get homes and manufacturers off gas; tax exemptions for conservation covenants, leading to dozens more bush properties being protected forever; and changes to make sure that residents, not businesses, get to decide who is elected in the City of Melbourne. Let us be clear: none of this would have happened without the Greens in Parliament. But there is more to do. This election we are fighting for so much more – free public transport, rent controls, public housing, free dental and an end to coal and gas – and we are fighting not to make the major parties better but to replace them with people that will fight for our community.