Twenty year old Amy Gregorovich has lived in Pakenham for her entire life.

She attended the local schools, works at the Pakenham library, and was the Greens candidate for Gembrook in last year’s state election.

Now, Ms Gregorovich is the Greens candidate for the marginal seat of La Trobe in the 2019 federal election.

“I’ve always believed that there wasn’t a wide range of candidates running for my local area, so when there was an opportunity for someone like myself I just jumped for it,” she says.

Those closest to her were surprised by her venture into politics.

“Both my parents were very supportive, but were kind of shocked…neither of them are very political so they were very intrigued as to what would be involved,” she says.

Ms Gregorovich herself was intrigued by the direction her life was taking.

“I never really enjoyed public speaking or debating – I’ve kind of shocked myself that I’ve gone for it,” she says.

Running a political campaign isn’t easy – especially when you’re going to university at the same time.

But Ms Gregorovich gives credit to all those working for her.

“It’s definitely not an easy task but I’ve got a great group of people surrounding me that have been helping me throughout the way, and also amazing volunteers”.

As an undergraduate student at Monash University majoring in Environmental Science and Human Geography, it’s no surprise that she is a passionate advocate for protecting the natural environment.

In accordance with her party’s platform, Ms Gregorovich wants to see real action on climate change and an increase in clean, renewable energy.

“Climate change would involve a transition into renewable energy by 2030, investment into renewable energy hotspots across Australia, electric car incentives and phasing out coal exports as well as phasing out reliance on the coal industry as a whole,” she says.

Free education and health care are also a priority for her.

“Free education for all would include university and TAFE – we would raise the youth allowance by $75 a week and we would love to boost educational funding to make sure needs based education is achieved, and tie the HELP repayments threshold to the medium wage,” she says.

Free early childhood education and further support for educators as carers are also on her agenda.

“For health care, we’d love to guarantee free or low cost access to essential community services and treat drug use as a health issue, rather than a drug issue,” she says.

If elected, Ms Gregorovich would aim to improve the Medicare scheme for public benefit, rather than benefiting the private sector.

Jason Wood is the Liberal candidate who has been voted in by the electorate in the past two federal elections.

However, she is not deterred by standing against someone with so much experience.

“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to stand up against two people who are so well-established in the community and be the progressive alternative,” she told the Pakenham Gazette.

In implementing her proposed reforms, Ms Gregorovich says she would work with the community, considering their opinions on current Greens policy and how they would be implemented in the local area.

For those saying she is too young to be running, she says she isn’t letting her age stop her.

“I don’t see being young as a barrier – I bring a lot of different experiences and knowledge to the table as someone from a different generation,” she says.

“I am hoping to bring fresh air to the scene…I’m very proud to be representing the next generation of people who will be voting and inheriting the future that we decide on.”