Neighbours star Madeleine West has announced she will run for her local seat of Ballina as an independent in the 2023 NSW state election. West, 41, announced her bid on breakfast show Studio 10 Tuesday morning, criticising the government’s handling of the flood crisis across areas of NSW.
“Our region has been cataclysmically failed by the Government, its failure to act in a responsible way and deploy an actual plan to rescue the people that voted for them,” she said.
The Lismore resident and host of Mamamia podcast Restart went on The Project that evening to explain her reason for running for state politics.
“I’m running for state, so let’s not confuse the issue; it is not about the federal campaign, but I believe that politics is for the people and it’s about being the voice of the people,” she said.
“My area is beautiful, we see it on Instagram and everyone celebrates it as a tourist destination, but the reality is the people serving the coffees and cleaning up the Airbnbs can’t afford to live in the Shire any more.”
“I’m lucky to have a national platform, yes, but I think that makes me uniquely qualified to bring a spotlight on local issues because what we’ve been through realistically is a microcosm that the rest of Australia can expect to experience.”
West added that being a politician meant being accountable, demonstrating genuine care for the community and having a will to make people feel safe.
“I’ve been agitating for change for a very long time in a lot of different philanthropic spheres and now I want to be the change that I want to see,” she said.
The current MP for Ballina is Greens’ Tamara Smith.
West is most known for playing the character of Dee Bliss on the Australian network series Neighbours between 2000 to 2003 and from 2017 to 2020. She has also made appearances on other Australian series including Winners & Losers, Underbelly, House Husbands and The Wrong Girl.
In 2016, she published a parenting book, titled Six Under Eight, describing her life as a parent of six children.