2023-10-13
By Jordon Steele-John
Senator for WA
Hello! Thank you for all your support this year! For me, 2023 has truly been an incredible year, and as always, I’m so very proud of what my team and I have achieved alongside the community!
Here’s a short snapshot of our work this year as your Greens (WA) Senator and as the Australian Greens Spokesperson for Disability Rights and Justice, Foreign Affairs, Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, Health and Mental Health.
Disability
You might remember late last year my office conducted a nationwide survey asking the ADHD community to share their experiences of navigating the healthcare system. Off the back of the massive response we received – one that revealed serious issues around cost, wait times, access and stigma – we worked hard alongside the community this year to bring an ADHD inquiry to fruition.
And we achieved exactly that! In March, the Senate supported my motion to establish a parliamentary inquiry into ADHD service access barriers in Australia – a huge moment for me and my team, as well as the formidable lived experience community who have been centred in this campaign at every stage.
Over the course of the inquiry my team and I held a number of community events to engage folks in the process, and to create a safe space for us all to come together and learn from one another. I’m really proud that the inquiry attracted hundreds of submissions, which along with numerous public hearings has yielded some really powerful testimony. I’m hopeful we’ll end up with robust recommendations that meaningfully address the shortfalls in the system. The final report is due in October, so watch this space!
This year we yet again mobilised alongside the community to defend our NDIS against ruthless budget cuts. While the Albanese Government tried to frame its May budget as a positive for the NDIS, it actually delivered a cut of $74 billion from the scheme over 10 years.
That’s an unconscionable decision when too many disabled people are already not able to get the support they need to live a good life. In response, we held a snap community catch-up with hundreds of people from across the country, refusing to allow the government to gaslight disabled people.
We will continue our work in disability justice into the coming year as we push for big transformations following the release of the reports from the Disability Royal Commission and the Independent Review of the NDIS.
Health
Since taking it on last year, I’ve quickly learned that it’s never a dull moment in the health portfolio space!
One of the key items my team worked on this year is the parliamentary inquiry into access to dental care, which the Senate also passed in March. Our ‘universal’ healthcare system inexplicably does not extend to our teeth, leaving dental care completely inaccessible to many Australians. That can lead to significant long-term health impacts like heart disease and diabetes – not to mention the sheer injustice of having to live in constant pain.
In fact dental care is so broken in this country that the inquiry literally broke the record for the most ever survey completions – 17,000! – to a parliamentary inquiry! The final report will be published in November after public hearings wrap up, and I’m looking forward to seeing the recommendations take shape.
This year I also supported the launch of the Parliamentary Friends Group of Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS. ME/CFS affects a huge number of people in this country, and for decades it has failed to receive the recognition and understanding within the healthcare system that it needs. I’m hopeful that this group will bring attention to the tremendous work of the ME/CFS community and the system changes required to provide people with the conditions with the support they need.
Foreign Affairs
Throughout the year I continued my work in various foreign affairs spaces, including advocacy on Iran and their government’s ongoing human rights breaches; the restoration of democracy in Myanmar; working with stakeholders to update the Australian Greens’ resolution on Israel and Palestine, and more.
I also continued to advocate vocally on behalf of Julian Assange, who remains unjustly locked up in the UK while under threat of being extradited to the US. I met with representatives from the US Embassy, including the new US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy, to add to the immense pressure on them to drop the charges against Julian.
Peace and Nuclear Disarmament
This year marked the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War, the legacy of which is not the long-distant memory the major parties lead us to believe but in fact very present. I continued my advocacy for peace and reevaluating war powers in a parliamentary speech, which over 500k people viewed through our online platforms.
I also continued our anti-nuclear work, including agitating for the Albanese Government to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). I was also incredibly humbled to meet with a group of Australian atomic survivors, whose bravery and advocacy were a powerful reminder of why we must do everything possible to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
Community Engagement
The year was absolutely packed with community events and catch-ups, which always remind me both why I got involved in the Greens and why I continue to do this work.
Along with our series of ADHD community catch-ups and disability events, I hosted a range of events including AUKUS town halls, Politics in the Pub events, and community BBQs. My team and I have also undertaken a great deal of proactive, ongoing engagement with numerous diaspora communities in WA, including the Sudanese, Iranian, Taiwanese, Ukrainian and Bangladeshi.
In addition to this outward-facing work, the incredible community advocates on my team work tirelessly to leverage our systemic wins into real-life results wherever possible. I’m really proud to say that the support and advocacy we do our best to provide can be truly life-changing – again, a reminder of why I devote my life to this work and this party.
Thank you!!
There’s no doubt that I’m incredibly proud of the work we do, and our achievements are made possible by the tireless work of so many behind the scenes.
Our movement is only as strong as the people who power it. That means every single member, volunteer and supporter who devotes their time, energy, expertise and resources to the Greens can share in the collective pride in our party’s achievements.
I can’t overstate just how much of an impact every single contribution has: to our movement, to the lives of countless people across Australia, to our precious places, to future generations. I am so grateful to you all. Thank you, as always, for everything you do.
– Jordon