General News
20 April, 2025
Greens name candidates
THE Greens have announced two candidates who will stand for the upcoming Federal election in the electorates of Kennedy and Leichhardt.
A science educator has been chosen as the candidate for Kennedy, going up against the vast experience of incumbent Bob Katter.
Carole Stanford is a science educator and has taught chemistry and computing in high schools and universities.
“I’m running for Kennedy to give voters a positive, progressive choice at this election and to be a champion for the community, not vested interests,” she said.
Ms Stanford says she will be campaigning on cost of living, housing and climate change.
“The people of Kennedy are struggling under the weight of a rising cost of living, homelessness, and climate crisis that is affecting our water and food production and causing extreme conditions across our region,” she said.
“As a Greens candidate, I am campaigning to stop supermarket price gouging, cap rents and deliver cheaper mortgages for those in housing stress, and to make big corporations pay their fair share in tax so we can fund free GP visits and dental and mental health into Medicare.
“We need to tackle the climate crisis by stopping new coal and gas production and rapidly transitioning to renewable energy, which will create long-term, clean jobs for our region.”
In Leichhardt, Phillip Musumeci has been chosen to take on the fight to win the seat with incumbent Warren Entsch (LNP) not contesting the 2025 poll.
This is Mr Musumeci’s second tilt at the seat, having contested it in 2022.
Mr Musumeci is a fourth generation local who was born in Babinda, grew up on a family farm, and now lives in Cairns with his wife and son. He has spent half his working life as a systems engineer and the other half teaching computing science and engineering at a number of universities, including James Cook University.
Mr Musumeci says he is running for Leichhardt again because the major parties have failed the community on the issues of cost of living, housing and climate change.
“As an academic adviser at James Cook University, I saw firsthand how difficult it is for young people to pay the bills, juggle study and part-time work, and how hopeless many feel about ever owning a home of their own,” he said.
“Too many people in our community are struggling to pay the bills and are being ripped off every time they buy groceries at the supermarket.
“The Greens are committed to tackling the cost of living crisis by making supermarket price gouging illegal, putting dental and mental health into Medicare, and making visits to the GP free.
“We will address the housing crisis by capping rent increases and building more affordable housing.
“We will take strong action on climate change by stopping new coal and gas projects and investing in renewables to create thousands of well paid, long-term jobs in clean energy.”
