Sarina Kilham is not a career politician. She argues against them below, explaining why solving massive issues like the climate crisis depends on “normal everyday women like myself”.
As long as our parliament is dominated by a whopping number of male, party-based career politicians with little practical life experience outside of politics, promoting the agenda of parties that have declining membership bases – the real issues that affect women, children and communities will continue to be ignored.
I’m running as an Independent this election because solving the climate crisis depends on normal everyday women like myself putting ourselves forward to get real power in parliament. But I wasn’t always so confident….
In the spring of 2021 – my family was camping in Patonga NSW by the Hawkesbury River, when my 10-year-old burst into tears and unleashed the deepest grief. She told me: “I won’t get to grow old, and own a caravan, and travel around Australia like those old people because you adults are ruining the earth. I probably won’t even get to grow up because of the climate crisis”.
Rough stuff for a parent to hear. But a fair call for a 10-year-old who had lived through major social crises of smoke, bushfires, COVID lockdowns, and floods in her short life.
I did try to reassure my child out of this thinking – and I was shot back as only a 10-year-old can: “You are just talk, don’t try to make me feel better, the climate crisis is real and you can’t talk your way out of it”. Ouch.
I felt devasted at my child’s climate grief and the realisation that the joy I take in nature and in having children, might not be available for them to enjoy with their own children or grandchildren. I’m a lifelong social activist, I worked for the UN for a decade and I have a PhD in Sustainable Futures. But until this pivotal moment, I had never thought of being a politician. Indeed, I grew up in rural NSW and I’d only ever seen conservative, older, white male politicians.
In my family, politicians and power were simultaneously mistrusted, derided and not of my world or the circles I moved in. I didn’t even know I could run as a political candidate until I went to a one-day workshop by Women for Election Australia. It felt like being gifted the handbook to a secret, elite, (boys) club – but if you know the rules, you can run.
My child’s climate grief spurred me into running as a candidate with strong climate, community-and integrity focused commitments. My social and academic background meant I knew how to search for evidence, how to tap into the local issues, plus how to interpret the census data and figure out -who is in my electorate, and what matters to them?
I’ve stepped down from my day job as a university lecturer, and whilst I’m running in a safe seat – every election is winnable. We eat a lot of slow-cooker dinners as I’m campaigning!
More importantly – my children, my nieces and nephews, their school friends, my community – can see that a normal everyday person can be a political candidate. That politics isn’t only for white men, or for elites – and that we have the power to solve the climate crisis for our communities – if only enough of us stand up to be elected.
If you are voting in NSW this election – check if you’ve got an Independent woman standing up for your community and vote for her. It’s one of the most powerful things you can do to solve the climate crisis.