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Greens candidate proud of region, environment

Briana FioreBusselton Dunsborough Times
Greens candidate for Vasse Mia Krasenstein at a meet and greet session in Dunsborough.
Camera IconGreens candidate for Vasse Mia Krasenstein at a meet and greet session in Dunsborough.

A Yallingup local committed to climate action, better services in the regions and community involvement and inclusivity is the new Greens candidate for Vasse in the next State election.

Mia Krasenstein said she felt privileged to grow up along the coast and even more privileged to have an opportunity to represent her community.

The 24-year-old said young blood was needed to “shake things up in Parliament” and although young, she also believed she was qualified.

Ms Krasenstein said she was proud to be from the South West.

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“Whenever I get asked ‘Where are you from?’ I always say Yallingup with a big smile on my face,” she said.

She remembers waking up at 5.30am as a child to attend swimming lessons in the lagoon, riding on the pink train cart at the Dunsborough fair, trekking the full Cape to Cape for the first time at the age of 15, and catching the bus to Busselton for high school.

“This is a beautiful region, full of unique biodiversity and environment that people travel from all around the world to ex-perience,” she said. “But the community defines the area and people in our district are true-blue upstanding Australian citizens.”

The University of WA graduate said she was passionate about protecting the environment and believed Vasse should be leading the country in eco-development.

“We are WA’s playground, we deserve extra care in managing our environment to keep it the pristine, small local surf and country towns that people love it for,” she said.

Ms Krasenstein said she wanted to manage the coastline more sustainably, clean the waterways, bolster renewable energy and retain wildlife corridors and critical carbon stores.

The Yallingup resident said she had a stint in Norway, where she worked with a climate change organisation called ZERO.

She also promised to advocate for better services in the regions.

“We have very few mental health services available, no paediatricians in the district, and Dunsborough is still waiting on another Government-funded primary school,” she said.

Ms Krasenstein recently joined the Busselton Pride Alliance as an openly gay member and has been liaising with other community groups such as the Undalup Indigenous Association.

She said she would be out and about meeting locals and listening to their concerns.

“We’re stronger if we work together,” Ms Krasenstein said.

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