‘The Labor Party is no longer the party it was under Gough Whitlam’: 23 min with Jenny Leong
We had a chat with the Greens MP for Newtown about what is at stake this election and where the Greens stand on the big issues.
Mark J.: Tell me a bit about yourself.
Jenny: I’m Jenny Leong. I’m the Greens member for Newtown and I was elected in 2015.
For me, one of the things that I feel most passionate about is making sure that we address the inequality and injustice in our society and make sure that there are good laws that are protecting people, rather than bad laws that are causing them harm.
M: You grew up in Adelaide and came to Sydney when you were 19, enrolling at the University of Sydney. What made you want to stay?
J: For me, Sydney was an incredibly vibrant and exciting city and being a part of a community where there’s such diversity, but also where there’s so many people, gives you a real sense of energy.
I loved Sydney from the moment that I landed. I remember thinking this is the city that I want to live in and I’ve absolutely been in love with the city ever since.
M: How do you think this area has changed over the years?
J: Newtown has changed a lot when it comes to the kinds of people that can afford to live here.
Sadly, and one of the big reasons why the Greens have been pushing for rental reforms and the need to introduce an immediate rent freeze and rent caps and rent controls in the state, is actually so we can ensure that everybody has the ability to live and afford to live in our city.
So, I would say that the cost of living and the cost of rents has actually changed our demographics. Thankfully, though, we have amazing universities and other campuses and TAFEs, which means that young people are coming to this area.
And just right where we are now, in Pride Square, shows the absolute commitment and connection of the Inner West community and our inner-city community to the LGBTI community.
M: You’ve worked with Amnesty International and the Australian Council of the Arts. How have these experiences shaped your understanding of the world?
J: To me, I think it’s really critical that we acknowledge that ensuring that we’re protecting all people in our world from the abuse of their human rights but also recognising that everyone has the right to live with dignity and with freedom and equality is so critical.
Part of that at Amnesty was seeing some of the worst human rights violations that happen in the world and how authoritarian regimes and military dictatorships can crack down on communities and on people’s right to protest.
Sadly, we see that actually, it’s not just certain communities that are feeling that in certain parts of the world but actually in all countries we’re seeing an increase in repressive actions against peaceful protests, particularly people that are taking action to try and address the really dangerous and challenging climate emergency that we’re facing.
M: Yeah, we’ll discuss more on that later.
What inspired you to enter politics initially?
J: For me, I was very concerned by the divisive and racist policies that we saw out of the Howard government in relation to refugees and asylum seekers, and particularly disturbed to see the growing adoption of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party’s views in our mainstream political debate.
That inspired me to action.
And for me, seeing the power position that the Greens took in support of a humanitarian approach to refugees and asylum seekers was really the first thing that got me politically engaged.
M: Yeah, I do recall that you’ve previously said in an interview that you were a part of the ‘Tampa Generation’ of Greens alongside Adam Bandt, I’m pretty sure?
J: Yeah, both Adam Bandt and I are definitely of a generation of Greens members that joined because of the failure of the then-opposition Labor Party at a federal level under Kim Beazley to stand up and speak out against the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers and refugees.
One of the things I think that we realise is that over the years, the Labor Party has lost its way. It is no longer the party that it was under Gough Whitlam.
And sadly, we see now that so much of the Labor Party has adopted an agenda of neoliberalism that actually is more in line with the conservative side of politics and something that the Greens are absolutely opposed to and keen to be able to make sure people have an alternative option and a choice.
M: Let’s move on to politics.
The Greens are contesting this election with several policies on climate action, including to ensure that there are no new coal or gas projects, which the party is making a condition of its support if it holds the balance of power. What should the next government be doing to tackle the climate crisis?
J: You don’t have to look very far into our communities to see the devastating impacts of both the climate emergency and the housing crisis. In the communities in the Northern Rivers, they saw devastating floods as a result of extreme weather events caused by climate change. And at the same time now, they are seeing a housing crisis because of complete failure for the government to step in and deliver the support that is needed.
The Greens want to see an end to coal and gas in New South Wales by 2030 and part of our expectations on the NSW Labor Party is to get to that point. We need to see a commitment out of them that they will not approve any new coal or gas mines in the new parliament.
The climate emergency is here and it is real and we know that the big polluters are profiting out of causing that climate emergency. We need to step up and stop it or we’re going to see a real challenge for the future generations, but also for the current generation that is currently suffering as a result of the failure to stand up to the corporate coal and gas giants.
M: The state government of the past 12 years has generally been commended for its commitment to climate action, but less so on protecting nature and biodiversity. Why do you think this is and what needs to be done to solve these environmental issues?
J: One of the things that’s very, very clear is this current Liberal–Nationals state government is very good about talking big on the environment, but what they’re doing in practice is a completely different thing.
What we see is the continued destruction of our old-growth native forests in New South Wales. We see the destruction of our flora and fauna and we see native species facing higher rates of extinction, all under the watch of the Liberal–Nationals government.
Matt Kean might like to talk up big his environmental and green credentials, but he is simply doing that because he knows that in the northern area of Sydney, where his seat and Liberal seats are threatened, that is what he thinks he needs to do to be able to deliver seats for his party.
He doesn’t actually care about the environment because nobody who cares about the environment would allow the devastation and destruction that currently goes on across this state when it comes to our native forests, when it comes to our native flora and fauna and the extinction species crisis that we currently face.
M: The rising cost of living has consistently been in polls as the top issue for voters. And it’s no secret as to why that is. What do you think is the solution?
J: The cost of living crisis is something that everybody talks about. The reality is you don’t have a cost of living.
It’s the cost of your rent, it’s the cost of the energy bills, it’s the cost of food, it’s the cost of transport.
So, you don’t solve the cost of living crisis. What you actually do is address the things that are costing too much money and hurting people’s hip pockets. What does that look like?
Well, the Greens have a plan to see fully-funded and high-quality free public transport for people across NSW.
We also want to see rents immediately frozen and then establishing an independent body to put in rent controls in NSW. In addition to that, we want to bring energy production and energy provision back into public hands.
And by doing that, what we will see is the removal of the profit motive, where currently private energy companies are profiting from the need and desire for people to be able to access energy at an affordable rate.
M: Another top issue for voters, which is linked to the cost of living, is housing affordability. What should the next government be doing to fix the severe housing shortage?
J: First and foremost, we need to deal with the rental crisis.
The rent is just too damn high and so the Greens are saying we want an immediate freeze on rents and we want to take the profit motive out of investment properties.
First and foremost, we need to see that homes are places that people live, not ways for people to make money off the speculative property market.
Secondly, we need to invest in more public, social and affordable housing. We need to ensure that the state recognises that investing in public housing is as an essential service, as investing in our hospitals and investing in our public schools. We wouldn’t expect our public schools to return a profit if we wanted to build another public school.
And yet, when it comes to public housing, the state government expects selling off public land to make money from developers in the argument that they can then use that money to build other public housing.
It doesn’t work. It has failed miserably, and the Greens are committed to a massive investment in funds so that we can see more delivery of social, public and affordable housing.
M: You and the Greens support the cashless gambling card. What would you say to opponents of the card?
J: It’s very clear, and I say this very clearly to Chris Minns, that he needs to step up and recognise that the only reason Clubs NSW and the gambling industry hold power over our democracy is because he is refusing to get on board with a multipartisan approach to implementing the recommendations to stop money laundering and the dangers and harms created by gambling as a result of pokies.
Chris Minns is failing to do that currently. The Labor Party are morally bankrupt when it comes to the cashless gambling card. The Greens are urging him to listen to the unions, to listen to the people in our community that have experienced the harm caused by pokies, and to say that he will finally grow a backbone, stand up to Clubs NSW and commit to joining the rest of us in implementing a cashless gambling card in New South Wales.
M: And the rest of us, that includes the Liberal Party?
J: Absolutely. What we see is there is actually the potential to establish multipartisan support for the implementation of those recommendations this election.
The one holdout at the moment is Chris Minns. And the question has to be asked, is that because still the dark days of NSW Labor, when they were caught up in corruption and scandal, are still infecting the current supposed ‘fresh start’ that we’re hearing from Minns?
M: Last year, Violet Coco became the first person to be jailed under the new anti-protest laws for blocking traffic as part of a Fireproof Australia protest. I think a few days ago her appeal did go through. Why do you think these laws had both the support of the government and the opposition?
J: Because when people in power want to do things in the interests of themselves and not the community, they would prefer to not have to face the reality of the damage they’re causing.
People engage in nonviolent direct action and peaceful protest when they are outraged at the decisions of the state. If the state is doing things that they don’t like, people will come out and mobilise on the street. We’ve seen that with the nurses, we’ve seen it with the teachers, the public sector workers, the transport workers have all taken strike and industrial action over the past years, demanding better pay, better conditions.
We’ve seen the student strikers come out in force, demanding climate action and saying that we want to see no new coal and gas. And we have seen incredible direct actions from Blockade Australia and Extinction Rebellion, blocking traffic, and engaging in nonviolent peaceful protests.
If you’re in a position of power in the state, your preference is that you never see that dissent. I used to work at Amnesty International and I saw the extreme end of when authoritarian regimes crack down on peaceful protest.
It is a complete disgrace that here in NSW that we have seen draconian anti-protest laws passed, and the Greens are absolutely, absolutely committed to repealing them.
M: You said at the Greens’ campaign launch last Saturday that ‘democracy works best when parliaments reflect the diversity of our community’. As a society, do you think we’re heading the right direction?
J: We’re absolutely heading in the right direction.
The fact that me, as a woman of colour, someone who has a dad who was an international student, who came to this country to study many years ago, to now sit in the NSW Parliament as far as I know, being the first Chinese-Australian woman elected to the lower house in any seat in any jurisdiction in the country is a step forward.
We’re seeing the Labor Party and the Greens put up over 50% of our candidates this election being women and we’re seeing more diverse parliamentarians elected to our parliament.
But we know there’s still so far to come. The fact that we are still seeing toxic behaviour in our parliaments and in our democracy is something that needs to be stamped out. And until we address the culture in our parliament, we’re not going to change that diversity to a real level.
M: What other issues are priorities for you this election?
J: Locally, here in Newtown, one of the things that we are prioritising is making sure that we can make all of our train stations accessible. Not having lifts at a train station means so many in our community can’t use our public transport system. That has been a huge priority of mine since I was elected in 2015 and since then a majority of our train stations now have lifts. Lewisham train station has just come into the electorate and my hope is that we can see that made accessible in the next term.
In addition to that bigger picture, one of the things that I am very passionate about is seeing a treaty delivered for First Nations people in New South Wales. We launched our campaign for a Truth and Treaty process with my Greens colleague and Upper House candidate Lynda-June Coe recently at the NCIE in Redfern. That to me is something that we need to ensure that the state catches up to other states on.
M: What are your views on the current state of the election campaign, more generally?
J: I think it’s very clear that this election campaign is not really exciting. It’s very clear that this election is not exciting people on the streets, but partly that’s because we’re just not seeing any vision or imagination for change from either the government or the opposition.
What we know is that there is an exciting opportunity this election, though, and that is to see an already historic-sized crossbench in the NSW Parliament grow even bigger with an increase in the progressive and Greens representation in our Parliament to ensure that we can deliver on the change the community wants to see.
M: Do you think the Greens will do well this election?
J: The Greens are running one of our strongest campaigns that we’ve ever seen. This election we have 100% of our most winnable spots in NSW parliament being run by female candidates.
We have got a strong ground game as you can see around us right now out on the streets of Newtown, but across the state with candidates in 93 Lower House seats and we are ready to continue the strong Greens presence that we have had in the New South Wales Parliament for many decades.
M: More specifically, do you think that seats like Summer Hill and Heffron might turn Green for the first time?
J: What we know is the challenge is on in the seat of Balmain where we are attempting to hold on to that seat as a Green seat with the incredible Inner West Councillor Kobi Shetty who’s standing to replace the long-serving member Jamie Parker.
That is the first time in history the Greens have had an incumbent MP retire and have sought to replace it.
In addition to that, the seat of Summer Hill is looking Greener than ever before. The demographics of Greens in that area is looking very similar to how the electorate of Newtown was back in 2015.
M: With Balmain, what would you say to Labor who’s pushing attack ads saying that voting Greens would risk Perrottet?
J: The community expects more than dirty politics and attack ads. And our Inner West communities are highly engaged, highly intelligent individuals, and it’s very much an insult to the community to think that you can blatantly lie on pieces of paper in an election campaign and think you can fool the community into being scared and taking action.
The Greens play politics in a way that inspires and engages the community, that engages with volunteers in grassroots action to talk about the issues that matter to them.
And we feel like the tired, old dirty tricks of the old parties are something that is not going to resonate and it’s something that is just really quite an embarrassment to them that they think they have to resort to those kind of tactics.
M: We’ll wrap this up soon.
Hobbies?
J: Yeah. At the moment, I am campaigning all the time. When I’m not campaigning, I’m sleeping! So, the idea of having a hobby (or even having a social life) at this point is fairly limited. In regular times, one of my favourite things is making sure that I get the chance to hang out with my friends and family. I love cooking, I love spending time with my family and interacting with them. And whenever I get the minute, I love to be able to jump in the beach. Probably the only thing that I say that the Newtown electorate is missing is, I wish that we had our own beach, because it’s the one thing that I feel like it would be great if we had.
M: A fun fact about you?
J: Probably the fun fact would be to say that I actually moved to Sydney as a 19-year-old. And the way that I paid for the ability to be able to move from Adelaide to Sydney is because someone bumped into the back of my car and so they wrote off my car, and with the insurance payment, I used that money to be able to move to Sydney.
So, if you ever say there’s a silver lining in a thing, that would be the fun fact I can think of.
M: That’s fantastic! Thanks so much for your time.
J: Thank you.
