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
RENT FREEZE NOW
STOP SUPERMARKET PRICE GOUGING
A FAIR AND JUST ECONOMY
INTEGRITY IN OUR DEMOCRACY
HOMES, NOT HOTELS
SAVE LIVE MUSIC
REUSE AND RECYCLING REVOLUTION
PROTECT PRESTON MARKET
LIVEABLE COMMUNITIES
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 Greens' 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
Can you help us reach our goal of knocking on 20,000 doors by joining an event this weekend?
Local council ballots start arriving on Monday and there’s so much at stake. By electing more Greens councillors we could make housing more affordable, create more green space and secure investment in community and youth services. We can also elect local leaders who are campaigning for justice and peace at home and overseas.
Research shows that one to one conversations change minds. Nothing changes if nothing changes.
Can you help us remind people their votes are powerful this weekend?
RSVP at http://samantharatnam.com/events
A one stop shop, in your community, where you could go for free and see a doctor, a registered nurse, a dentist and even a psychologist - sounds pretty good right?
Well the Greens have a plan to build 6 of these Local Healthcare Clinics right here in Wills, in our local community, and better yet, tax the corporations rorting the system to pay for it.
Here’s how.
You and I both know that healthcare costs are spiralling out of control across Australia. People are being forced to choose between buying groceries, paying their bills or going to the doctor.
No one should have to make that choice. Everyone should be able to go to the GP for free.
That’s why the Greens have a bold plan that will improve the health of our community, and bring down the cost of living.
The sprint is on to elect more Greens to Merri-bek and Hume Council. 📬 Can you help elect leaders like @angelicapanopoulos_greens and @jayiwasaki_greens by joining a door knock or letter boxing flyers this weekend?
Sign up at https://samantharatnam.com/events or in my bio 🔗💚
☮️
“Embracing culture is our shield; celebrating it, our rebellion”
– A beautiful reflection from Matiu
I am so proud to represent the region that was one of the first communities that the Nepalese community settled into when they arrived in Australia.
We are so lucky to have the generosity, determination and excellence of the Nepalese community as part of our rich multicultural fabric here in Victoria.
Celebrating Teej with the community has always been a joy.
The news out of Lebanon is devastating. More than a thousand people have already been killed and 1 million displaced.
While Labor is still refusing to sanction Netanyahu’s regime.
——
We know the genocide in Gaza and the invasion of Lebanon are abhorrent and illegal and no amount of distraction will erase this fact.
In the face of this horror, communities are coming together in a way we haven’t seen before - through grief, compassion, care and solidarity.
——
We are harnessing our own lived experiences of war, colonisation, racism, displacement and persecution into a unity of purpose to change who is in power.
We don’t want warmongers and bystanders as our leaders anymore.
We need peacemakers.
——
Keep hope and stay strong. These are horrifying times. Desperate tactics will be used to demonise us.
But we know who we are. I’ve met you at the rallies. We’ve stood, we’ve cried, we’ve connected.
That’s the power of peace.
We’ll prove that peace is so much more powerful than war.
Council election ballots will arrive in your letter box next week. Now is a critical time to get out and support our Greens candidates with door knocking and letter boxing.
With more Greens on Council we could help build genuinely affordable housing, fight to save public housing, secure more public and green space, invest in community and youth services and make our communities stronger and more inclusive.
Sign up to an event at https://samantharatnam.com/events/ or via the link in my bio
It’s a beautiful long weekend for a doorknock 😎
These are the faces of a community of campaigners with the power to change the world 💚
We took to the streets of Brunswick, Coburg and Fawkner yesterday and had hundreds of great conversations. So many people talked to us about the cost of everything going up and being worried about their children’s future as housing becomes completely unaffordable.
We talked about needing more spaces for young people to connect with others and join in activities that they enjoy. And many people said that they really appreciated that we were out and about listening and learning about the issues that were impacting their lives.
Today we rest for football festivities and tomorrow we’ll be out again.
Hope you can join with us as we build this community movement for a better future 🙌
We came together in Coburg this evening to support each other in this time of grief and disbelief as Israel escalates its attacks on Lebanon with hundreds already killed.
The failure of the international community to take action against the Netanyahu government’s assault on Gaza has emboldened them and increased the threat to millions in the region.
It is our responsibility to speak up and take action when millions of civilian lives are at risk anywhere in the world.
No one gets to be a bystander when the world is confronting genocide and humanitarian catastrophe.
Today, we spoke to public housing residents at 120 Racecourse Rd, Flemington who are being forcibly relocated so the Labor government can demolish their homes and give this land to private developers for mostly private, expensive apartments.
We’re hearing more and more horror stories of the experiences these residents are being put through during this ‘relocation’ process.
Today we heard from a family with 2 kids that they’re not being allowed to apply for a 3 bedroom home and another family were offered community housing, where they cannot afford the rent of that particular housing provider but Homes Victoria won’t provide them suitable other options to consider.
No one should be forced out of their homes, away from their close-knit communities, into accomodation that is unsuitable and substandard.
Labor’s plan to get rid of public housing is forcing Victorians away from safe, secure and affordable housing and will only make the housing crisis worse.
#savepublichousing
It was brilliant to join @engage_pasefika’s recent Women’s Health Equity day in Broadmeadows!
Engage Pasefika has been working with the pacific island migrant community in Melbourne’s north to improve health and well being and is achieving great outcomes through a number of initiatives.
The forum spoke about the need for governments to work with the community to increase awareness, access and support advocacy so that everyone has access to the same resources and services.
#womenshealth
This Wednesdays from Wills, we are talking about housing.
Rents have gone up 30% since Labor took over. 75% of their MPs are property investors, including right here in Wills. This explains why Labor won’t scrap the investor tax handouts, or cap rent increases. Renters and first home buyers deserve better.
It will only take 4.5% of people changing their vote, to take this seat off a property investor! The Greens fight for people, not profit. If we want change, we have to vote for it.
Join me to a door knock and BBQ on this Friday’s public holiday. We’ll be door knocking in Coburg, Fawkner and Brunswick, all starting at 12pm. Then converging on the park for some food and kick to kick after, before heading to the vigil.
Find your nearest event in my bio or at samantharatam.com/events
This Friday, 5pm Bridges Reserve Coburg
Labor’s approval of 3 new coal projects is a betrayal of everyone who voted for climate action.
If Labor ever cared about the climate crisis, they don’t now.
It is our communities who will continue to pay the price with more bushfires, floods and heatwaves.
🎨 @jessharwoodart
Our hearts are with the people of Lebanon and the Australian Lebanese community at this terrible time.
Line up announcement! We will be joined by @jillstark__ , @clementine_ford , @anasinagraybarberio and myself for afternoon tea and drinks to celebrate the women of Wills! Join us for a conversation about what’s important to local women and how we can elect more progressive women to represent us, right here in Wills. Get your ticket via the link in my bio 🔗💕
It was a glorious weekend for more doorknocking for the Merri-bek council and Wills elections with all of these legends 🤩
We had lots of great conversations and many people said they supported the Greens because more needs to be done to protect our climate and environment. So many people again also spoke of the struggle with being able to afford food and other essentials and wanting more action to make housing more affordable.
One person I met on the doors today was telling me about how she was worried so many homes were being locked up as short stay accommodation when other people couldn’t find a home. We talked about some of the recent changes the Greens have been able to secure that could free up thousands more rentals by regulating things like Airbnb.
When there are more Greens around the decision making table, we advocate and negotiate for governments to go further, faster and bolder.
I’ve been around that table too when Labor has told us that the change we were asking for wasn’t possible. But after negotiating, we found out that change was actually possible-Labor had just lost the courage to take on the big corporations to make it happen.
With shared balance of power, like we’ve had in the Victorian Parliament for years, we have achieved stronger regulation of short stays to free up the supply of homes, stronger incentives to free up vacant homes as rentals, better protections for renters and so much more.
Imagine what we could achieve with more Greens around that decision making table at the federal level too!
That’s what’s on the line here in Wills.
If one in ten people change their vote, we can change the politics of this country for the better.
And we could discover that all that they said was impossible - was indeed always possible.
We just had to vote for it 💚
Everyone should feel safe using public transport. Join Merylnston Creek Candidate @shahnoor_hume incoming Northern Metro Representative @anasinagraybarberio and me for a free community BBQ to discuss this important issue. Sunday 29 October 12pm. RSVP link in Bio
