Samantha Ratnam Greens MLC for Northern Metro
What matters to you
As our local MP, I’m fighting for our community. Please tell me what matters to you most, so I can be your voice in state Parliament.
Don’t see your issues here? Tell me what else matters to you.
Samantha Ratnam Greens MLC for Northern Metro
What matters to you
As our local MP, I’m fighting for our community. Please tell me what matters to you most, so I can be your voice in state Parliament.
Don’t see your issues here? Tell me what else matters to you.
Hi, I’m Samantha. A Melbourne local, here to represent you in the Victorian Parliament.
A HOME FOR ALL
A CLIMATE-SAFE FUTURE
JUSTICE FOR FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE
AN ANTI-RACIST VICTORIA
EQUALITY FOR WOMEN AND LGBTQI+ PEOPLE
A FAIR AND JUST ECONOMY
HOMES, NOT HOTELS
INTEGRITY IN OUR DEMOCRACY
SAVE LIVE MUSIC
REUSE AND RECYCLING REVOLUTION
PROTECT PRESTON MARKET
LIVEABLE COMMUNITIES
PROTECTION FOR ANIMALS
PROTECT AND RESTORE VICTORIA’S NATURE
With your support, my Greens colleagues and I have pushed the Government to go further and faster on the issues that matter to our community.
- Samantha Ratnam
ABOUT ME
I am the Leader of the Victorian Greens and an Upper House MP for the Northern Metropolitan Region
Together, my Greens colleagues and I want to take on the big corporations who are destroying our planet, make sure everyone has a safe and affordable place to call home and empower our kids to grow up knowing that they belong.
Latest News
Follow Samantha
Congratulations @elleninmelbourne on becoming the new leader of the @victoriangreens!
I’ve had the privilege of working with Ellen for nearly a decade in the Greens and over 6 years in state parliament. She is courageous, determined and is a visionary. She is not afraid to stare down the fossil fuel giants, logging companies and big corporations, and I know she will achieve big things with this united, inspired team of MPs.
Our new leadership team is powerful, driven by outcomes and will grow the Greens in Victoria.
It has been the honour of my life to work with this team and lead the parliamentary Greens for nearly 7 years.
Over that time, we have doubled our party room and taken the fight on climate, housing and cost of living inequality up to Labor and the Liberals, pushing them to do better.
We have amplified the voices of the community inside and outside of the parliament and always kept people and the planet at the heart of everything we do.
I know that Ellen and the team will continue this work with passion and determination. I can’t wait to see what they achieve!
I will be continuing in the Parliament as member for Northern Metropolitan, serving the community until the party chooses my replacement. After which I am looking forward to helping turn the federal seat of Wills Green for the very first time 💚
Year after year, report after report, it’s clear the housing crisis is only getting worse.
Today Anglicare’s rental affordability report squarely puts this on Labor’s doorstep.
Governments need to act. We’ve now gotten to the point where there are basically zero affordable homes.
What can we do? Freeze rent increases. Build more public homes.
#rentalcrisis #renting #housing #rentfreezenow
It’s been a big week!
Thanks everyone for the love and support you’ve sent over the last few days especially 💚
It was a fitting end to a big few days to attend the 4th Tamil Pengal in Australia new year celebrations surrounded by incredible Tamil women changing the world in so many incredible ways.
I’ve been lucky to have had strong and determined women in my own family and community role-model what it was to challenge the status quo and assert their power - sometimes without even being aware of how significant their actions were.
My grandma (Archie) used to recount the sit-in protests she led when conflict and war descended into Sri Lanka’s north. My mother was determined to find peace for her children and led our migration across the world. And I now get the privilege of meeting with many in the Tamil diaspora community here continuing that tradition of leadership.
Thank you @tamilpengalinaustralia for a lovely afternoon showcasing the achievements of women and our Tamil community more broadly.
We have so much to be proud of and I am very proud to be a part of this resilient and determined community✊🏾
Our campaign to win Wills is going to be HUGE. The major parties might have their dirty coal and gas donors, but we have something much stronger – people power.
The Greens strength is our huge movement of volunteers, transforming politics by connecting with our neighbours and understanding the issues they care about.
We’re kicking off our campaign for Wills on Saturday 4th of May with a HUGE doorknock & BBQ, can you make it?
If you’ve ever thought about volunteering with the Greens, now is the time! Sign up via the link in my bio to find out more.
When we come together, there is nothing we can’t achieve. #LetsWinWills
If you want change, vote for it.
#LetsWinWills
It has been a privilege to serve as your Victorian Greens leader for nearly 7 years. I am so proud of the incredible wins we’ve had with the community.
Together with my state Greens colleagues, we’ve secured the balance of power in the Victorian parliament, and have pushed Labor further and faster on climate, housing and integrity reform, freed up thousands of homes for renters, helped end native forest logging and secured the first inquiry into the threat of far right extremism.
The Victorian Greens team is talented, united, and poised for historic success, and I know that they will continue to hold Labor to account and get action on the housing, climate and cost of living crises.
For over a decade, I have represented our community on council, as the mayor of Merri-bek, and in state parliament as Leader of the Victorian Greens. I’m honoured to be the Greens candidate for Wills 💚
If you’re worried about the cost of rent, mortgages or food and you think the Labor government is failing to act, you’re not alone. Our community in Wills should be represented by someone who shares our values, not a politician who is reliant on corporate donations and won’t act on the things that matter.
If you live in Brunswick, Coburg, Fawkner & surrounds, you have one of the most powerful votes in the nation.
We can win here - we need just 1 in 10 people to change their vote to turn this seat Green. I hope you’ll join me on the campaign 💚
www.greensforwills.com
Thank you to the North Melbourne community for the wonderful multicultural Eid festival last weekend ✨🌙
It was a great day of community, food, rides and fun for kids and families.
This is a strong close knit community that support each other. Many within this community live in public housing in the area.
It’s important to remember that when governments’ make decisions to knock down public homes, they also destroy communities.
We need to support communities not tear them apart.
#NorthMelbourne #community #savepublichousing #eidmubarak
Greetings from Echuca!
Looking forward to the regional sitting of parliament. Northern Victoria’s sunshine is extra glorious today☀️
TUNE IN TO TRUTH-TELLING: Over the next few weeks @yoorrook are holding their land, sky and waters hearings.
We’ve already heard that Royalties agreements were intentionally set up to exclude First Peoples in Victoria from their cut of more than $1 billion in land use revenue.
We’ve also heard state officials apologise for depriving First Peoples of their land, acknowledging that it has caused significant trauma and diminished their ability to care for Country.
This is why we need truth-telling!
Yoorrook is creating an official public record on the impact of colonisation on First Peoples in Victoria. It will recommend actions to address historical and ongoing injustices as well as inform our state’s treaty negotiations.
This is an incredibly important process and we encourage all Victorians to to listen, learn and engage with #yoorrook hearings.
TODAY’S HEARINGS + MORE:
The remaining land, sky and water hearings will include evidence from First Peoples, the Premier and other Victorian Government representatives and churches. Traditional Owners will provide insights into caring for country, fire management, cultural heritage and access to water across the three weeks of hearings.
Commissioners are currently hearing from @firstpeoplesvic co-chairs, Ngarra Murray and Rueben Berg. This afternoon commissioners will speak with the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations and Gunditjmara elder, Jim Berg will appear on video.
HOW TO LISTEN: You can attend Yoorrook and watch the hearings in-person at level 9/54 wellington street, Collingwood.
Alternatively you can catch the hearings live on the Yoorrook Facebook page and at www.yoorrookjusticecommission.org.au
#yoorrook #truthtelling #hearings #FirstNationsJustice
Lovely to help welcome @merri_bekcitycouncil’s newest citizens in Coburg tonight!
Mayor @adampulford did a wonderful job of hosting the ceremony and @timreadgreens spoke about how we can all take part in making our community even better, encouraging everyone to consider running for elections now that they are citizens!
I loved being able to share the memory of the relief my parents felt when we became citizens years ago and how it made us feel like we finally belonged somewhere.
The migration journey can have its challenges and sometimes there are moments when you are made to feel uncertain about your place and your rights to have your voice heard in your new home.
But I encouraged everyone to take a mental picture of the diversity they were surrounded by tonight and in those tougher moments that may come, remember that this room full of people from all corners of earth, with their rich histories and unique perspectives - is Australia. We are Australia. And we belong.
Finally.
Magnificent to have been deep in the forests in the central highlands today 🌳
These are some of the most precious areas in the world and should be protected as national parks.
We were lucky enough to have Prof David Lindenmayer as our guide through these old tall giants of our earth.
The fight to protect them continues.
The Brunswick community turned out this morning and made it clear that we want peace and an end to the bombing of Gaza.
Protests like these are happening across the country and won’t stop until Labor listens.
And this movement for peace will only get louder until Palestine is free 🇵🇸
As communities break the Ramadan fast today, we wish you a blessed Eid-ul-Fitr with your loved ones ✨🌙
Here are some photos from the wonderful Iftar dinner we shared with community a few weeks ago.
It was so special being able to come together and celebrate Ramadan with you all.
Thank you to everyone who joined us 💚
#eid #eudmubarak #iftar
📸: Julian Meehan & Ebony Heins
The Greens’ 2022 inquiry into the rise of far-right extremism sounded the alarm bell on this dangerous movement.
It said governments must invest in social cohesion to combat racist ideologies from taking hold.
Upcoming state and federal budgets must fund community building and anti-racism work for us to prevent these movements taking hold.
#farrightextremism #endracism #antiracism #community #building
This violence is preventable - and we all have a role to play in ending it.
Thank you to the Society for Women Empowerment & Recognition in Australia (SWERA) for a wonderful evening celebrating the upcoming Eid festival and Chand Rat 💚
#EidMubarak
🎵 🎸Music is life and it’s been a lifeline for so many of our lives 🥁🎶
People ‘my age’ grew up at @theevelynhotel, @cornerhotel, Baraki and now I love a soul gig at The Paris Cat.
What about you, where do you go to listen, dance, share and celebrate music?
Live music venues like these have weaved themselves into the fabric of our communities and make Victoria so vibrant (and cool 😎).
But, they are in trouble. With astronomical hikes in insurance costs, rising rents and cost of living our live music venues are hanging on by a thread. Too many venues have already had to shut their doors.
We need to retain the things we love about our city, that’s why the Greens are asking the State Government to step in and underwrite live music venues’ insurance through the government’s Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA).
The VMIA exists to “cover the people, places and projects that help Victorians thrive” – it’s time to expand the VMIA to provide affordable insurance to our beloved live music venues.
Add your name to our petition calling on the government to save live music in Victoria - linked in bio ⬆️
#SaveLiveMusic #SaveOurScene #music #livemusic
