The Greens will look to capitalise on Canberrans' support for having the party holding the balance of power in a bid to take the city's inner-city Labor stronghold.
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Isabel Mudford, 31, a sociology PhD candidate at the Australian National University and community health officer at Sexual Health and Family Planning ACT, will be unveiled as the ACT Greens candidate for the federal division of Canberra.
Ms Mudford, who grew up in the capital, will contest the seat at the next federal election after being preselected by her party unopposed.
"I think this seat is one in which we know people in Canberra are very progressive and want to see Canberra represented as best it can be, by somebody who truly reflects the values and is able to use those values in the parliament in a meaningful way," Ms Mudford told The Canberra Times.
The Greens will face Labor's Alicia Payne, who holds the seat with a margin of 17.1 per cent.
Labor took more than 41,000 first-preference votes in 2022, while the Greens took 22,795 first-preference votes. The Liberals received 20,102 first-preference votes.
But the Greens are adamant the seat is one they can win, with campaign work already underway.
Ms Mudford said she joined the Greens around 2013, when she was the ACT branch convenor of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition.
"I haven't sort of pictured myself as a politician in my life except that I have long thought about what is the most effective way to make change," she said.
"And I still have a strong faith in parliamentary democracy as the most effective and quickest means to make the most meaningful change."
That's the reason, Ms Mudford said, she worked as an adviser to the ACT Greens in the Legislative Assembly, where the party is in a governing coalition with Labor.
"For me and my family, now is the right time for us [to run]. I also think it's the right time for the electorate," she said.
Ms Mudford pointed to "meaningful gains" the Greens had made in the seat in the two election cycles since the boundaries had been redrawn.
"Now this is the first time Canberrans will go to the polls with an incumbent Labor government, and what we're hearing on the doors already is that people are quite disappointed with their performance on things like the inequality crisis, housing and, unfortunately, climate change as well," she said.
To do: raise income support
On the to-do list of a newly elected Greens MP for Canberra, Ms Mudford said, would be taking quick action to campaign for an increase in the rate of JobSeeker and broader income supports.
"I think that that affects and intersects with a whole wide range of very serious social issues, including domestic violence, homelessness, mental health issues, drug and alcohol issues," she said.
"And it's just fundamentally about supporting people who need it. It's the quickest and most effective thing we could possibly do."
Next on the list is tackling the housing crisis, including advocating for the ACT's public housing debt to be waived, and taking action on climate change.
"We've got to take very seriously this plan to extend gas to 2050 ... I think most Canberrans would be appalled to know [that] is being supported by their local member," she said.
"So for me, I think they're probably the top issues."
'They're not Labor Party people'
Ms Payne increased her primary vote in 2022 and took 44.9 per cent of first-preference ballots
Ms Payne, who was elected in 2019 after the ACT was split into three electorates, has twice defeated the Greens' Tim Hollo.
The seat - which includes parts of Belconnen, the inner north and the inner south - became a contest between Labor and the Greens at the last election.
Ms Payne last week told The Canberra Times she would never take voters' support for granted and being a member of the government meant she could "really deliver" rather than just making promises.
Ms Mudford said while people often described the voters in the seat of Canberra as Labor people, she believed that was not true.
"I think Canberrans are people who care about inequality. They care about the beautiful environment that we have here. They care about each other," she said.
"They care that we see women living in their cars because they can't afford to leave safely.
"They're not Labor Party people. They're people who care about each other. And Canberrans are eager for Labor to be pushed as far as possible."
Ms Mudford said running in the seat and challenging Labor was the best way to achieve that.
Canberrans have also had the chance to see the Greens work with Labor in the ACT government, which provided a sound basis to build a campaign for a federal seat, she said.
"Canberrans we know really appreciate the work that the Greens do in local government to pull Labor to be more progressive - to go further, faster," Ms Mudford said.
"I think that's proven on a huge number of fronts across social issues. ...
"People in Canberra know the effect of having Greens in the balance of power, however they choose to use that. And that's basically the springboard for the federal campaign, because there's so much more we can do federally if we have the balance of power with Labor."
Labor's 'deflection tactic'
Tensions between the Greens and the other two major parties, Labor and the Liberals, have been heightened in recent weeks over responses to the war in Gaza.
Labor and the Coalition voted together in the House of Representatives to condemn the Greens for stoking tensions by supporting pro-Palestinian protesters, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused the Greens of spreading misinformation about the Middle East conflict.
Ms Mudford said it had been a deflection tactic, especially for the Labor Party, to gang up on the Greens.
In the case of Labor, she said, it was a "betrayal of vulnerable people and is a betrayal of their own membership in regards to the movement to support and protect Palestinian people".
"It's very upsetting to me that standing up for the rights of Palestinian people, who are experiencing a genocide, is seen as an issue of party politics and not an issue of humanity," she said.
"The rights of Palestinians has always been something that I have been concerned with. I don't think that talking about the protection of an indigenous population is participating in anti-Semitism."
'A fundamentally good thing'
With a selection of independents lining up for the ACT election on October 19, and the success David Pocock had in unseating the Liberals' Zed Seselja from the Senate in the 2022 federal election, renewed focus is on independents' chances for the federal seats.
Voices for Canberra and Voices for Bean are both at work trying to find independent challengers to run Climate 200-backed campaigns in the traditionally safe Labor seats
Ms Mudford said she was actually really excited there was more focus on independents as an alternative to the status quo in federal seats.
"It's actually a fundamentally good thing for our broader movement," she said.
Ms Mudford said she would encourage voters to pick Green above independents because the party is transparent, with policies created by members and processes of accountability.
"I think when you vote for the Greens, you're voting for a party that wants to take quick and serious action on very important issues, has experience in doing that locally and federally, and so are a bit of a known quantity in that way," she said.
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
