On a hot and sunny Saturday afternoon, Renay Wells, The Greens candidate for Fisher finished doorknocking in the Sippy Downs area and hosted a barbecue for the community. Wells wore the recognisable Greens t-shirt and a wide-brim hat as she talked to volunteers and members of the public. The barbecue featured sausages, burgers, vegan alternatives and cute dogs in Greens bibs.

Wells was bubbly, energic, animated and eager to share her vision for Fisher. Wells says it is important to fight against the two-party system. “The two major parties just seem to take no accountability and do nothing … too many times we have elections, nothing seems to change,” she says.  “We’re in a minority government and we have the balance of power, we can literally push them to be better.”

This is the second time Wells has run in Fisher. In 2022, she finished with 13.81 per cent of first preferences, a +1.4 per cent swing to The Greens. Fisher is considered a safe seat for the LNP, which it has held since 1993. Andrew Wallace has won the seat three times since 2016.

Wells has lightened her hair since her 2022 campaign, but her policies remain the same today as she fights for her community during the cost-of-living crisis. “Australia is a wealthy country,” she says. “There’s no need for us to not have the support for our communities.”

Wells grew up in Bundaberg and Brisbane but now resides in Golden Beach. She has worked in Sydney, Shanghai and Los Angeles. She had a swimwear brand called Miss Maneater Swimwear, which specialised in unconventional materials and embracing all women’s bodies. She now works as a fashion impact consultant where she helps brands with ethical and sustainable environmental practices

“I bring a unique mix of real-world experience – business founder, sustainability expert, community advocate – and a vision for a future that works for all of us,” Wells told Sunshine Coast News.

The Greens are not just fighting the LNP and Labor, but the increasingly popular teal movement of independents. The teal independent candidate for Fisher is Keryn Jones who previously served on the Sunshine Coast Council and has a successful solar energy business in Caloundra. Jones is backed by Climate 200, a climate-focused fundraising organisation with a plan for meaningful action on climate change. The Greens are known as a progressive and environmentally focused party. “There’s ecosystems within our community that people don’t actually recognise as being detrimentally affected,” Wells says.

Wells is prioritising finding solutions to the Pumicestone Passage breakthrough from Bribie Island in 2022 that caused erosion and has worsened since ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. “Water is pushing in from the ocean into freshwater estuaries, where all these migratory birds come,” she says. “There’s sacred first nations trees within that area. No one seems to do anything about anything and it’s very frustrating.”

Wells says protecting the environment is one of her key election promises. Another is affordable healthcare for the community. “People are putting off going and seeing a doctor because they can’t afford to, like bulk billing is ceased to exist,” she says. “It’s very hard to find a bulk billing doctor within the community right now. Dental health and mental health are two things that have been a long-running policy of the Greens.”

Wells says she and The Greens will deliver affordable healthcare services to each electorate through “free healthcare that provide GP, dental, and mental health services with no out-of-pocket costs.” Better mental healthcare is something Wells and Wallace agree on.

Wallace says the Government needs to do better with mental health. “The treatment and care of people who live with mental health problems in this country is nothing other than an absolute disgrace,” he told Parliament in February.

Wells says another cost-of-living struggle for the community is high rent. She says The Greens’ policy includes a freeze for two years, capping future rental increases at 2 per cent to help combat the cost-of-living crisis. This will include building more public and affordable housing by a new public property developer.

Wells says the community is also affected by Coles and Woolworths’ “price gouging” and wants to stop it. “It’s not okay for big corporations such as Coles and Woolies to be earning these massive profits … it’s just ridiculous,” she says.

The Greens’ campaign has centred around the importance of third-party voting as candidates in parliament will help implement the cost-of-living policies. Greens Senator Penny Allman-Payne attended the barbecue to support Wells. “Fisher should vote for the Greens … you can’t keep voting for the same two parties and expect a different result,” she says.

Wells says she is “frustrated” with the public transport system, roads and the broken promise of a train line from Beerwah to Caloundra. “The infrastructure was never built for the amount of people that came to that Coast,” she says. “We have a bus system, and that’s the extent of it.”

The Greens have been adamant that they will make changes if elected, with Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John saying they will tax billionaires to help fund their policies. “We can get more Greens into Federal Parliament to make billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share of tax to fund the public healthcare our community needs,” he says.

A key Greens policy is erasing student debt including Tafe and HECS. Labor announced it would wipe 20 per cent off student HECS debt and keep Tafe free. Wells says the Greens will go further to combat students’ concerns with paying back loans.

“Wipe all student debt,” she says. “Because there’s no way students are going to be able to afford to buy a house or save for a house or pay rent, exorbitant rents, and pay off student loans once they’re finished. Politicians went to uni for free. They didn’t have to pay theirs, so why do we have to pay ours? Everyone deserves to have an education and so why should we pay when they don’t pay?”

Allman-Payne says voting for The Greens is not a wasteful vote and electing Greens candidates will help implement cost-of-living policies. “For a long time, we had a two-party system that’s not working for people,” Allman-Payne says. “We have a housing crisis, we have a climate crisis, we have a cost-of-living crisis, we have people on disability who are not getting the support that they need. So that two-party system has not served us well, and nothing changes if nothing changes.”

The Greens are hoping to form a minority government, and Wells was genuine in her convictions about advocating for the community. She was sweating in the sun as she listened to the concerns of the community with empathy. She says she wants to make a real change for Fisher.