Jess's Campaign Launch Speech

Delivered at the campaign launch at Footscray Park on 15 July 2026

Good morning everyone. Thank you all for being here.

I would like to begin by also paying my respects to the Traditional Owners of the land on which we gather. I recognise that sovereignty was never ceded and support Victoria's Treaty process as an important step towards truth telling, justice and self determination.

I am honoured to accept the endorsement of Voices of the Inner West, who I have been on this journey with since November last year.

I want to say thank you to the Voices team for all of their work in bringing the community independent movement to Footscray.

And a big thanks also to my fledgling but exceptional campaign team who have recently come on board.

I did not begin this year planning to run for public office.

I came to the decision to throw my hat in the ring after months of community listening - speaking with people about a vision for Footscray, beyond election cycles.

People spoke about the things they love.

We love that Footscray is one of the most vibrant, creative, multicultural and welcoming places in Australia. We love that neighbours know one another in the village.

However a common feeling is that our part of Melbourne is underinvested in and often overlooked.

I have called Yarraville home for more than a decade. My partner and I are raising our young family here.

I love it - but I see the pressures we face every day. Dirty air. Poor planning. Rising housing costs. Overcrowded schools. Green spaces under threat.

Planning decisions that seem to happen to our community rather than with us.

Government decisions already made before consultation even begins.

During our kitchen table conversations, people told us they want a representative that actually listens to the community.

That is why I'm standing. Not because I think - I - or politicians have all the answers. But because I think communities often do.

For too long, Footscray has been treated as a safe seat. Safe enough that promises can be made without always being delivered.

We have the West Gate Tunnel, aimed at taking trucks off residential streets, but for inexplicable reasons, the decision was made not to filter the fumes coming out of the tunnel stacks.

We have a shiny new hospital building, but people are rightly asking whether there are enough staff, beds and services inside it. A hospital is more than just a building.

We have major projects imposed on our neighbourhoods.

The rapid expansion of data centres in residential areas has become one of the clearest examples of planning decisions being made without genuine community consultation.

The question is not whether Victoria should have data centres.

The question is whether the people who live next door deserve to have a genuine say before these huge developments go up and before we truly understand the implications of them.

The people of the Inner West deserve more than being an afterthought.

This year's election is coming at a time when fear and division are becoming louder in Australian politics.

We are already seeing some who are trying to sell a vision of Australia built on blame. Blame multiculturalism. Blame migrants.

That is not our community. It is not Footscray.

When we asked people what they loved most about living here, one answer came up again and again. Our multicultural neighbourhoods.

We do not want to retreat from this. We want to celebrate it.

Footscray's diversity is our greatest strength. It makes us more creative, more resilient, and more compassionate.

As someone who grew up in Hong Kong, who has lived and worked across Southeast Asia, Ethiopia, and Footscray, I know that diverse communities are stronger communities.

I reject the politics of division completely. I will always stand for a community that is respectful and inclusive.

In many of our kitchen table conversations, we heard about disillusionment with the status quo, where the system is not working for people, and politicians are answering to their party rooms and vested interests, rather than the people who elected them.

I am tired - like many in this community - of politicians telling us who to blame, and taking cheap shots at each other or at parts of our community. Talking but not saying anything real. Negativity without solutions.

What we need is people who are prepared to collaborate and solve problems.

Integrity should be expected, not exceptional.

That is the kind of politics I want to bring to Parliament.

Independent. Pragmatic. Evidence-based. And Community-led.

Today is not just the launch of a political campaign, and it is not just about one person. It is an invitation to everyone who believes that we can do politics differently.

Together, we can build a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable and fairer future for Footscray.

And in closing:

I am thrilled to announce that I will be standing as the community independent candidate for Footscray in this year's Victorian election!