Dr Ecker has lived and worked in the Southern Tablelands since 2005 and has a property near Gunning. 

She said she is standing for the seat of Hume because of her lifelong commitment to social equity, responsible environmental management and grassroots democracy.

“The Greens provide a clear alternative to the major party candidates in Hume because they are guided by the local community’s needs and are realistic about a sustainable future for all of us,” Dr Ecker 

She said it was the government’s failure to act on climate change that had particularly motivated her to run in the next election.

“Inaction on climate change has caused the suffering of farmers who are on the front line of drought impacts. The loss of biodiversity and habitat shows the major parties do not care about future generations,” she said. 

“I live on a property, so I am sympathetic to issues such as drought and high feed costs and soil erosion.

“I have also lived my whole working life in the space between farmers and conservationists, negotiating for agricultural people and their needs as well as for conservationists.”

She said the Australian people are ready for a change of government.  

“We need to address government idleness on climate change and no party is more committed to this than The Greens,” she said. 

“Voting for The Greens in the current energy minister’s electorate is the best way to send a message that we care about our climate emergency and the need to fix it.”

She said it was an excellent time to be up against sitting member Angus Taylor.

“Research by the Australia Institute has shown that over 50 per cent of the Hume electorate is in favour of reducing emissions and increasing our renewable energy target. 

“Also, 70pc do not want the creation of any more new coal mines.

“We also need to stop public subsidies to the fossil fuel lobby and properly tax big corporations so we can invest in education, clean-tech jobs and a better standard of healthcare.

“The Greens always have been in favour of climate change action. The rest of the community has now caught up with the urgent call for climate action – there is no better way to support this than to vote Green in Hume.”

Locally, she said the Goulburn Solar Farm is being stymied by an insecurity around renewable energy policy. 

Dr Ecker is also a passionate advocate for social equity and equality and is committed to tackling discrimination against minority groups and addressing the growing gap between rich and poor. 

“Grassroots democracy fits with my approach. I am a community person. I know how to listen and I care about what the community thinks,” she said.

“We are teetering on the brink of some social reforms that are going to send the country backwards.”

Dr Saan Ecker is a social science and environmental researcher with a PhD in social science, a Masters of Ecological Management and qualifications in psychology. 

She has led a diverse range of studies to better understand social and environmental issues in Australia.

A key area of interest is sustainable agriculture and she has been widely published in Australian and internationally on this topic. 

She also has expertise and has published in the areas of agri-tourism and food tourism, environmental stewardship and pest management. She has also undertaken research in regard to social issues in Australia.

Prior to becoming a researcher, she had 20 years managing multi-million dollar community-based projects in water resource management, sustainable agriculture and biodiversity conservation.

She worked in these fields in in NT, SA, WA, NSW and ACT. This gave her plenty of experience in community engagement and group problem solving. She has worked in state and federal government and in the non-government sector as well as running her own social science research consulting business.

Locally, Dr Ecker is a longtime and very active landcare volunteer. She leads a grassroots community action group – Saving the Superb Parrots in her local area. She is also a Rural Fire Service member.

She has presented at many forums across the country about sustainable food and fibre systems (her PhD topic) and developed a program in Western Australia called BestFarms that linked together and supported farmers committed to sustainable agriculture.

She has a vision for improving triple bottom line sustainability for agriculture and revamping our broken national natural resource management support system. 

She is committed to finding a balance between conservation and productivity. She believes that rural land use, including the production of food and fibre, should contribute to biodiverse native landscapes, clean water and clean air and be sensitive to Aboriginal heritage and cultural land use.