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Controversial New South Wales Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon has resigned after eighteen years fighting corruption and other affronts to democracy.
“From a young age, Lee was an activist,” says Greens Leader Richard di Natale in his valedictory speech, “she’s been a significant figure in Australia’s women’s peace, environmental and social movements”.
Lee Rhiannon won nearly half a million votes in the 2010 federal election after eleven years as a member of the NSW legislative assembly.
From the Sydney Rocks’ Builders and Labourers of the seventies to pushing for Frontier Wars acknowledgment at the Australian War Museum, former Senator Lee Rhiannon has created a legacy of political campaigning.
She instigated laws for a ban on developer donations to NSW political parties.
Ten politicians either stood down from ministerial duties or resigned during Operation Spicer into NSW corruption, as well as former Premier Barry O’Farrell.
One of the first federal laws Rhiannon worked on was a change to senate voting, giving direct preferential voting rights to voters rather than via political parties.
But in 2016, former Greens leader Bob Brown appeared on national television calling for the senator’s resignation.
Ms Rhiannon says Mr Brown’s argument that NSW voters were looking for “young, new, vigour” were insulting.
She says the Greens need to be wary of careerism, hierarchical powers and bullying.
“I think I’ve been a bit of a political outlier from time to time myself but never as much as you,” says Labor fellow New Sales Wales Senator Doug Cameron in his valedictory speech, “I never get banned from my party room… you did it because of your principles”.
But it is Labor’s deputy opposition leader in the senate, Don Farrell, who spoke the longest in Ms Rhiannon’s honour at her valedictory, even quoting from her maiden speech.
“On many causes often more than we realise, we do agree,” Mr Farrell quotes from Ms Rhiannon, “I look forward to working with all senators to find common ground wherever we can”.
As Senator Derryn Hinch thanks Ms Rhiannon for work on live export bans and Senator Nigel Scullion says they both have the “environment’ in common only his path seemed to have led him to “killing it” – cue an awkward pause of half-silenced guffaws from the surrounding senators – it’s clear the self-described outlier succeeded in finding common ground.
Mr Farrell continues, “you came to this place with a clear set of principles… for that, the Labor party salutes you”.