Senator Shoebridge declared Port Kembla to be in the cross hairs for a naval base and a naval waste dump site thanks to the Australian Naval Nuclear Power Safety Bill 2024 which passed parliament on October 10.

"We're here because a fortnight ago, the Commonwealth Parliament in an ugly deal between Labor and the Coalition passed legislation that enables either this defense minister or the next Defence Minister to declare Port Kembla a naval nuclear facility, a naval base and a naval waste dump simply by regulation without having to speak to the council, without having to speak to traditional owners without having to speak to the community," Sen Shoebridge said.

"... with the flick of a pen make Port Kembla, a nuclear submarine base and a future coalition government has now been given the power to turn Port Kembla into a nuclear submarine base."

Story by Janine Graham in the Illawarra Mercury, 23 October 2024.

"The Greens had a strong showing with one candidate making it onto each ward, and the positions were rounded out with two independent candidates."

Story by Zoe Cartwright in Region Illawarra, 2 October 2024.

Greens' Ms Whittaker contacted Cr Brown on Saturday night to congratulate her on the Lord Mayoral win.

Ms Whittaker said she knew it would be a battle for the Greens to win, but on the figures so far, the party's Lord Mayoral vote has jumped from the 13 per cent in 2021.

"We're stoked," she said of the party's efforts.

"It was a very different election, with everything that went on. But we're really happy with how the campaign went.

"We left it all out there. We did as much as we could do to put a progressive vision to the community and we've gotten a bigger vote for the Greens than we've ever done before."

"It's really exciting," she said.

"We've got a great team in the Illawarra Greens and we all help each other. So I'm not scared because anything that seems hard, we collaborate on and work together to get through it.

"So it's not like I feel like I'm doing it alone. I'm looking forward to meeting people and getting to know all the local issues in depth and getting our policy platform implemented.

"I'm so excited for Deidre and for Ward 3," Ms Whittaker said.

"We've been trying to get a councillor in Ward 3 for almost a decade. It's awesome that people in Ward 3 will have the Greens down there now to represent them.

"Kit's gotten a good vote. So we're hopeful that comes through in pre-poll as well.

"Kit will be an amazing councillor. He's a young renter, he's got heaps of lived experience of how it can be hard for people to live in Wollongong and he's going to bring that to the table for young people and for renters."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 15 September 2024.

Greens mayoral candidate and paramedic Jess Whittaker was also feeling positive and shared similar sentiments. "Whatever the people decide then that's what I'm happy with," Ms Whittaker said.

"We've had a really good campaign and when all that happened with the Liberals, we just kept doing what we were doing and putting our positive vision for the city out there."

Story by Joel Ehsman and Grace Crivellaro in the Illawarra Mercury, 14 September 2024.

“I've never met a politician who is as connected to her community as Cath!” said the Greens’ Jess Whittaker. “She's the reason I got involved in politics because she made it accessible to a regular person who wants to see positive change. Cath is a gem!”

Jess also paid tribute to outgoing Ward 1 Greens councillor Mithra Cox, “a passionate advocate for climate action and community”.

“She’s a natural leader and a fantastic public speaker. She’s incredibly kind and has been so generous in helping the next bunch of council candidates find their way.”

The man who has led Wollongong for the past 13 years, Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery AM, was Jess’s final choice. “Gordon led Wollongong Council out of some very dark times when restoring integrity and trust was desperately needed. He's championed a collaborative approach to decision making and remained connected to the community and in touch with local issues throughout his time as mayor.”

... And finally, Andrew [Anthony] picked outgoing Ward 2 Greens Councillor Cath Blakey, “who I deeply admired for her commitment to environmental protection and social justice issues”.

“The number one concern for people is affordability of housing, food, power bills and transport,” said the Greens' Jess Whittaker. “Every dollar counts for many families right now.”

Story Genevieve Swart in The Illawarra Flame, 12 September 2024.

"The Greens will recharge the local food economy with our plan to fund a dedicated position on Council to act as a mediator for local food production and swaps. This role will be the point of contact for people wanting to start a community garden, a crop swap or other event based on local food production."

Jess Whittaker, Greens mayoral candidate for Wollongong

Story by Kate McIlwain in the Illawarra Mercury, 11 September 2024.

Story by Kate McIlwain in the South Coast Register, 11 September 2024.

Jess Whittaker – The Greens

Jess is a paramedic and previously ran in the 2021 local government elections. She is a community representative on the Lake Illawarra Coastal Management Plan Implementation Committee.

If elected, she wants to increase investment in footpaths, cycleways and pedestrian crossings, build dedicated youth spaces like skateparks and pump tracks, and revitalise the night-time economy with a position on the council for a Night-Time Mayor.

On Jess’s ticket are candidates Matin Cubby, Stephen Young and Kathryn Broadfoot.

To learn more about Jess and the other Greens members on her ticket, head to: https://www.illawarragreens.org.au/
Instagram – @jesswhitt.

Kit Docker – The Greens

Kit is a policy research assistant for Dr Amanda Cohn MP in NSW Parliament and a support worker for people with disabilities.

If elected, he wants to increase the affordable housing supply by placing fairer mandates on big property developers; increase and bring forward investments that improve accessibility for people living with mobility, including footpaths, pedestrian crossings and active transport solutions; and protect nature and wildlife by investing in initiatives that bring nature back into the city and suburbs.

The other candidates on Kit’s ticket are Harris Cheung, Ali Gerritsen and Theresa Huxtable.

To learn more about Kit, head to: https://www.illawarragreens.org.au/kit_docker_candidate_for_wollongong_city_council_ward_2

Find him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kitdockergreens/

Or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KitforWollongongcitycouncil/.

Dr Deidre Stuart – The Greens

Deirdre is a university mathematics support tutor, community climate activist and TAFE visual arts student.

She has previously undertaken contract research work for various local governments in environmental science and engineering contexts, as an academic at QUT and later as a senior environmental scientist with Opus International Consultants.

If elected, she will advocate for improved climate resilience for the city, including improved stormwater function, shadier streets and community batteries; safer, cheaper homes and improved community connectivity via a free public bus service for southern suburb and better footpaths, cycleways and public transport services; and work towards a circular economy.

The three other candidates on her ticket are Jamie Dixon, Elena Martinez and George Takacs.

To learn more about Dr Stuart or the other candidates on her ticket, head to:

www.linkedin.com/in/deidre-stuart-a45b5339

Instagram: @deidrestuart_au2500

https://www.illawarragreens.org.au/

Instagram: @illawarra_greens

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IllawarraGreens/

Story by Zoe Cartwright in Region Illawarra, 9 September 2024.

Jess Whittaker, one of the organisers of the ride, said the ride was a success, with a good turnout.

"We're just trying to create a positive culture around cycling in the Illawarra," Ms Whittaker said.

She said the event aimed to encourage people who hadn't been riding in a while to get the bike back out. Ms Whittaker herself got back into riding during the COVID pandemic when her children were starting primary school.

"It was the best thing I could have done," she said.

Story by Natalie Croxon in the Illawarra Mercury, 1 September 2024.

Greens candidate for lord mayor and Ward 1 at the Wollongong local government elections in September Jess Whittaker says a Council appointed food coordinator would be the point of contact to help residents start a crop swap and establish a community garden.

“Remember that time when you had plenty of neighbours swapping their extra lemons, tomatoes, basil, parsley, or even sharing a few eggs,” Ms Whittaker said.

“People are finding it harder to buy good quality produce. They’re frustrated by the two large supermarket chains who have a stranglehold on our weekly shop. On top of that, growing quality produce is being affected by climate change. And I’m also finding that people are looking for small events like a crop swap or a community garden so they have more opportunities for connections in their local community.”

“Everywhere I go, while talking to the community, access to affordable, local food keeps coming up as an issue,” she said.

Ms Whittaker said one example of the power of local food projects is the Woonona Community Garden.

“In just over three years, Woonona Community Garden has built a thriving community garden where local residents from diverse backgrounds and gardening abilities work together to grow food, share the harvest, and build new friendships,” she said.

“The Greens will recharge the local food economy with our plan to fund a dedicated position on Council to act as a mediator for local food production and swaps. This role will be the point of contact for people wanting to start a community garden, a crop swap or other event based on local food production. It will also assist existing community gardens to build membership and look for new funding opportunities.

“We don’t want a situation where people are turned off starting a project because getting through Council’s red tape and bureaucracy is too hard. Greens councillors will be more supportive of people wanting to get involved in community building food projects.

“As a city, we should be actively looking at land that may be available for small-scale local food production. While talking with people another idea has been looking at developing resources that could help small urban farms on private land. We are seeing a few pop up. However these enterprises generally don’t receive support or encouragement from any level of government.

“A Council appointed local food coordinator could be the point of contact on council to help people wanting to start a crop swap to find a spot to host it, providing information on weeds that probably shouldn’t be swapped, access to tables and assistance with promoting the events. It’s important that the community leads when it comes to local food, but there is a lot that the council can do to give them encouragement. Sometimes people just need help to build their confidence to host an event like this, but after the first few runs they can be self-sustaining. At the moment the local food scene doesn’t get much attention and our new Greens on council will be committed to changing that.”

Story by Mick Roberts in the Bulli & Clifton Times, 28 August 2024.

Greens candidate for Lord Mayor Jess Whittaker said there currently wasn't a lot of support for the creation of community gardens.

"It's very hard to get through bureaucracy, especially in the initial phase when you're setting up," Ms Whittaker said.

"That's the hardest phase, to actually get these projects off the ground. So we want to support people who want to do local food projects in the Illawarra, and that's going to help us build our climate, resilience, cost of living relief, and building community.

"There's so many benefits that local food can bring to an area."

Ms Whittaker said the part-time role would cost around $60,000 a year, which she hoped could be funded from the next council budget.

"We already have a lot of staff doing amazing work in natural areas, such as restoring habitat. We'd hope that we can expand that to include local food," she said.

"There's so many things already happening that are really grassroots and being led by community. We just want to show that government can support that grassroots energy."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 26 August 2024.