The first-ever Samoan MP is set to be sworn into Victorian parliament following a hotly contested ballot of Greens party members in Melbourne’s inner north.
Pacific health campaigner Anasina Gray-Barberio beat seven other candidates to replace former Greens leader Samantha Ratnam in Victoria’s upper house, the party confirmed on Thursday.
Incoming Greens MP Anasina Gray-Barberio.
Ratnam announced in April her intention to quit state politics and run for the federal lower house seat of Wills, which the Greens hope to win from Labor with momentum from the pro-Palestine protest movement.
Eight candidates had nominated for Ratnam’s Northern Metropolitan Region seat, which takes in lower house districts already held by the Greens – such as Melbourne, Richmond and Brunswick – as well as divisions the party came close to winning at the 2022 election, like Northcote.
Among the challengers were City of Yarra mayor Edward Crossland, former Merri-bek mayor Angelica Panopoulos and ex-Melbourne lord mayor candidate Apsara Sabaratnam.
Gray-Barberio – who was born in Samoa but grew up in Broadmeadows after migrating to Australia with her family in the late 1990s – founded community health organisation Engage Pasefika.
Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam is to stand for the federal seat of Wills.Credit: Joe Armao
“As a Pasefika woman, I have a deep understanding of the threats posed by climate change, coming from a community that is on the frontline of the climate crisis,” she said in a statement.
“I’ll be fighting for our communities who deserve secure and affordable housing, to be able to put food on the table, and to live in a safe and healthy climate.”
Source Agencies
