Greens in NSW Parliament

Ian Cohen - Member Legislative Council (MLC) New South Wales

Ian Cohen lives here in Byron Shire and is a member of Byron Ballina Greens.

He has been a pioneering community-based environmental and social justice activist since 1980, working at local, state and national levels. He is a specialist exponent of non-violent direct actions and community organisation for social change. Ian has fostered a specific interest in the concept of theatre of the environment as an educational and community empowerment technique.

Ian was a founder of the Sydney Peace Squadron and the Brisbane Peace and Environment fleet and came to international attention in 1986, when photographed hanging onto the bow of a nuclear armed US warship in Sydney Harbour on a surfboard. As a keen surfer Ian was a founding member of Stop the Ocean Pollution and Clean Seas Coalition.

In March 1995, Ian was elected to the NSW Legislative Council as its first Green member. In September 1995 Ian was involved in organising a parliamentary delegation to protest against French nuclear testing in the Pacific and sailed into the test zone on a Greenpeace expedition.

In March 2003, Ian was re-elected to the NSW Legislative Council for a second term.

Lee Rhiannon (NSW Legislative Council)

Lee Rhiannon has worked in the social justice and environment movement for three decades. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and has three children. She is a qualified zoologist and botanist.

Prior to commencing fulltime work with the Greens in 1998, Lee was the Director of AID/WATCH, an organisation that she co-founded. In the 1980s Lee was the coordinator of the NSW Coalition for Gun Control and was a member of the Women's Advisory Council to the NSW Government.

Lee is particularly committed to sharing the skills she has gathered during more than three decades of campaigning. Lee regularly runs skill workshops to train people in how to run campaigns.

Since being elected to the NSW parliament in 1999 Lee has worked on a range of issues including exposing corporate donations to political parties, supporting local communities fighting for environmental protection, strengthening gun control laws, public education and promoting workers' rights.

Syliva Hale: NSW member Legislative Council (MLC)

Sylvia’s political activism began when she was a student at Sydney University during the 1960s. She taught for four years in NSW’s public high schools and she is a mother, grandmother and wife. She established the longest-surviving independently-owned Australian publishing company (Hale and Iremonger), and one of the country’s larger specialist book printers.

Sylvia was elected to Marrickville Council in 1995 as a member of the No Aircraft Noise Party, and joined The Greens in 2000. She was subsequently elected to the NSW Legislative Council in March 2003.

In her maiden speech Sylvia told the parliament that “…The Greens are part of a growing voice that calls for community-based empowering solutions that redistribute wealth equitably. We recognise the important role of government intervention in the economy and public ownership of resources and institutions. We recognise that global challenges require both local and global solutions.”

John Kaye (NSW Legislative Council)

John Kaye was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council in 2007. Kaye is a former teacher and researcher in electrical engineering at the University of New South Wales where he specialised in sustainable energy and greenhouse issues. He has a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley and over twenty years of research and teaching experience. He is a vocal critic of electricity industry privatisation and a strong advocate for renewable energy and energy efficiency.