Life-long social justice and environmental advocate Liz Johnstone is the Tasmanian Greens' candidate for the Lyons electorate.
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The 61-year-old mother and a grandmother said she is running for the seat because she wanted to be part of a "courageous and caring Parliament that takes immediate and ambitious climate action, puts the needs of everyday people before the profits of big corporations, and understands and values the knowledge of First Nations people".
The Falmouth resident said she travelled to Tasmania consistently throughout her youth, but decided to move to the Apple Isle 15 years ago after spending time working for social justice organisations in the Phillipines, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and South Africa.
Upon her arrival in Tasmania, she began working with the Wilderness Society, in a position that she held for over a decade.
"I've always had a passion for the environment, and I think that came from my father ... he loved native plants and taught me about them from a young age," she said.
Ms Johnstone said it was that same love that led to her decision to campaign for the greens in her area, as well as the "climate crisis" she believed was affecting Australia and the world today.
"I deeply feel my responsibility as a mother and grandmother to secure a safe climate for future generations. After all, our lives, livelihoods, and lifestyles depend on us taking immediate, ambitious climate action," she said.
However, according to Ms Johnstone, it was not just the climate that motivated her to begin campaigning.
"How can it be that in 2022 in a rich nation like Australia that families are still being forced to sleep in tents for two years? Or that our health system is failing so badly that people are quite literally dying while they wait for treatment? It's just devastating to see my fellow Tasmanians being so badly let down, and neither major party is offering policies that would fix these issues," she said.
Ms Johnstone believed the Greens were offering a positive vision for a better future, with policies that could make a real difference to people in Lyons by putting dental into Medicare, capping rents, making childcare free, and raising the rate of pensions and payments.
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