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Cate Faehrmann (born 17 March 1970) is an Australian politician and environmental activist. Faehrmann was a Greens member of the
New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in t ...
from 2011 to 2013. She resigned from the Legislative Council in June 2013 to stand for the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...
at the
federal election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
of the same year and was unsuccessful in obtaining a seat. She worked in the office of the Leader of the Australian Greens,
Richard Di Natale Richard Luigi Di Natale (born 6 June 1970) is a former Australian politician who was a senator for Victoria. He was also the leader of the Australian Greens from 2015 to 2020. Di Natale was elected to the Senate in the 2010 federal election. ...
, as his chief of staff from May 2015 to March 2018. In August 2018 she was re-elected to the Legislative Council to fill the casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Mehreen Faruqi, who had replaced
Lee Rhiannon Lee Rhiannon (formerly O'Gorman, ''née'' Brown; born 30 May 1951) is a former Australian politician who was a Senator for New South Wales between July 2011 and August 2018. She was elected at the 2010 federal election, representing the Austr ...
in the Australian Senate.


Early life

Faehrmann was born in
Darlinghurst, New South Wales Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Syd ...
and spent her childhood in a small country town west of
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
. Her adoptive parents ran the local chemist, and she attended a Toowoomba boarding high school. She attended
Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asia ...
in Queensland, where she worked to establish a Women's Collective on campus, and was active in pro-choice campaigns at the time. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from La Trobe University. She was a founding board member of the progressive political organisation GetUp in 2005, and was also on the board of the public interest environmental law firm, the Environmental Defenders Office of NSW from 2004 onwards. In 2005 she was appointed executive director of the Nature Conservation Council of NSW. While heading up the Council, Faehrmann launched the Walk Against Warming initiative, an annual community call to action on tackling climate change, which drew crowds of tens of thousands in Sydney in other cities across Australia and the world.


Political career

Between 2001 and 2005, Faehrmann worked as a media advisor and campaign coordinator for the Greens party in South Australia, New South Wales and New Zealand. She was preselected to fill the casual vacancy left by the resignation of Lee Rhiannon and took her place in the NSW Legislative Council in September 2010. Following the 2011 state election, Faehrmann published a controversial opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald in which she was critical of the Greens' campaign strategy. She encouraged a period of internal reflection, writing: "The necessary soul searching is not just about the party's future fortunes. Climate change, the loss of native plants and animals, the need to foster healthy communities, the reduction of air and water pollution, and the creation of a sustainable economy, are urgent challenges. We must be a party of government within one generation. If we are to reach our potential within the next couple of elections, we need to be honest about our mistakes and learn from them. The party's handling of the boycott, divestment and sanctions policy against Israel was an unnecessary distraction from issues relevant to a state election." As a member of the Legislative Council, Faehrmann's portfolio responsibilities within the Greens included: Environment, Transport, Healthy Lifestyles (incl. Dental Health, Drugs and Harm Minimisation), Roads and Ports, Status of Women, Sexuality and Gender Identity, Multiculturalism and Animal Welfare. all NSW Greens MPs share portfolio responsibility for climate change. Faehrmann was preselected in a statewide postal ballot of members to be the Greens lead Senate candidate for NSW in the 2013 federal election. For this reason she resigned her seat from the NSW Parliament in June 2013, to prepare for the coming election. Faehrmann's vacated seat was filled by fellow Greens member, Mehreen Faruqi. Faehrmann failed to win a Senate seat. In 2014, Faehrmann replaced
Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasm ...
as chairperson of Sea Shepherd Australia. On 25 May 2015, she was announced as the chief of staff to newly-appointed Greens leader,
Richard Di Natale Richard Luigi Di Natale (born 6 June 1970) is a former Australian politician who was a senator for Victoria. He was also the leader of the Australian Greens from 2015 to 2020. Di Natale was elected to the Senate in the 2010 federal election. ...
, but left that post in March 2018, reportedly aiming to take the soon-to-be-vacant seat of Mehreen Faruqi in the NSW Legislative Council. She returned to the Council in August 2018.


References


External links


Cate Faehrmann's Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faehrmann, Cate Australian environmentalists Australian women environmentalists Australian Greens members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council 1970 births Living people 21st-century Australian politicians Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Council 21st-century Australian women politicians