Unelected Greens MP Andrea Dawkins may consider using her bolstered profile to roll Launceston Deputy Mayor Rob Soward in the upcoming council election.
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After almost three years in Parliament, Ms Dawkins was excluded from the election race on Thursday after the preferences carve-up, beaten by Labor newcomer Jennifer Houston with a margin of 801 votes.
“I had steeled myself for this result because there obviously has been a swing against the Greens which had continued, as the polls indicated,” she said of Friday.
Despite the result, she said she was heartwarmed to see 4333 Bass voters listed her number one of their ballot
“I received hundreds of messages last night and that was when it hit me,” Ms Dawkins said.
“They were telling me that I’d done a fantastic job, that it was a pleasure watching me grow into the role, and that I’d inspired some to consider becoming a politician.
“It’s hard to once be a community leader or representative and then no longer feel like you are able to do that.
“It’s been an absolutely incredible experience. Often I’ve had to pinch myself because I couldn’t believe that I had got this far.”
Ms Dawkins said she would most miss advocating for animal rights and welfare within Parliament.
“There hadn’t been that voice before, which is something that I really relished,” she said.
The Greens vote in Bass dropped from 12.7 per cent in 2014 to 11.4 per cent this year.
This could be linked to there being no standout divisive environmental issue in the electorate, like the Tamar Valley pulp mill had been over at least three elections.
Both major parties had committed significant cash to help fix the Tamar River’s environmental and amenity problems.
Labor’s policy to remove poker machines from pubs and clubs by 2023 gazumped a similar long-held Greens policy which cost the party votes.
Ms Dawkins said it might be the case that Labor’s move to the left meant the Greens needed to rely more on its core environmental principles.
“It seems to me that while we have a progressive Labor Party, it is going to make things difficult for the Greens in that social justice space,” she said.
That’s not to say that the party did not have environmental policies to sell, Ms Dawkins said – it was just the absence of contention and conflict around them meant they failed to attract attention and publicity.
After 25 years in small business followed by a stint in local and state politics, Ms Dawkins said she was now taking time off to consider her options
One could be contesting a seat in the Launceston council election in October though she said she would decide upon that once she spoke to former council colleagues.
“And I wouldn’t mind giving (Deputy Mayor) Rob Soward a run for his money,” Ms Dawkins said.