Tuesday, 22 September 2026

 Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (15:52): I just want to take a moment to acknowledge all the community groups who are fighting to defend this planet on which everything, including our very existence, depends. To Southern Ocean Protection Embassy Collective, Wathaurong, coastal communities, ocean lovers and surfers who paddled out to save southern sea country from seismic blasting; to folks in Anglesea, like Keith, Dick and Tarryn, who studied and wrote submissions and signed and sang and rallied the community to Dump the Pump and protect precious groundwater and the Anglesea River; to Les, Charles, Mel and the community in Lara, who doorknocked, petitioned, rallied and held meeting after meeting to valiantly fight off a massive waste incinerator; to the environment groups, birdwatchers, First Peoples and the Geelong community who continue to organise and pick apart the baseless case for two floating gas terminals in Corio Bay; to Land and Water Resources Otway Catchment, the ecologists and forest and wildlife defenders who work tirelessly to protect the beautiful Otways from logging and destruction; to the growing groundswell of people in Melton and surrounds who are resisting the imposition of energy- and water-guzzling data centres, I have seen your work firsthand, and it has been an honour to fight alongside you. We have won some, and we are yet to win others. But it is you and others like you right across the state who keep me motivated in here. We should not have to fight so hard to protect our home and that of all living things, but still you choose to fight. You turn up despite the exhaustion and despite the best efforts of the forces that would have us continue down the path of endless consumption and destruction. If we want a better future, or any future, we do not actually have any choice but to fight – and the Greens will be right here with you.