Community activist joins Fiona Carrick ticket in Murrumbidgee

Former chair of the Inner South Canberra Community Council Marea Fatseas will make a second run at the Legislative Assembly as an Independent in the October election, partnering with Fiona Carrick in Murrumbidgee.

Ms Fatseas ran in the 2016 election in the central seat of Kurrajong, picking up 3.3 per cent of the vote, but Murrumbidgee now includes parts of the inner south.

In 2020, Ms Carrick garnered the biggest Independent vote of the election with a healthy 3783 votes or 7 per cent of the vote, and is considered a chance this time around.

This election, she will contest the election as a party to maximise her vote, and she always aimed to run a ticket instead of a solo attempt.

Ms Fatseas said she wanted to support Ms Carrick in becoming the first Independent in the ACT Legislative Assembly in over two decades.

“She has shown a strong commitment as a volunteer community advocate standing up for the interests of Woden and southern Canberra residents for many years,” Ms Fatseas said.

“She cares for her local community and will advocate for positive changes to benefit the Murrumbidgee electorate and the broader ACT community.”

Ms Fatseas said other jurisdictions had independents and crossbenches so why shouldn’t the ACT?

She said that Independent Senator David Pocock had showed that he could get some good outcomes.

“Often when there are parties that have been in incumbency for long periods on either side of politic you don’t get the best outcomes, whereas if you’ve got someone take up issues on the merits not the politics of the issue you can get better outcomes,” Ms Fatseas said.

“That’s what I’m looking forward to, more merit based, evidence based consideration of policies.”

Ms Fatseas said the pair had been talking about this for some time.

She deferred to Ms Carrick on the contentious issues of light rail and which party to support as a government. Ms Carrick has said the government needed to provide more information on light rail stage 2B and if she did win a seat she would decide then who to support.

The move is a good one strategically, as Murrumbidgee now takes in Yarralumla, Deakin, Forrest and Red Hill, part of Ms Fatseas’ old stamping ground with the ISCCC.

Ms Carrick said Ms Fatseas had a strong track record as a community advocate standing up for inner south residents as the former chair of the council and as a former president of the Yarralumla Residents Association.

“Her experience and insights will contribute significantly to my campaign in Murrumbidgee,” Ms Carrick said.

Ms Carrick said Ms Fatseas had been a volunteer with environmental organisations, including for a decade as part of the core volunteer team that developed, delivered and now operates a community-owned solar farm in the ACT.

She brought significant management, policy development and program management experience through her public and private sector careers, including in fields such as innovation, large-scale research/industry collaborations and international education cooperation.

As the daughter of Greek immigrants, Ms Fatseas also understood the challenges facing immigrants in Australia.

A number of Independents are lining up across the ACT to contest the poll, reflecting an increased dissatisfaction with the major parties.