Page 524 - Week 02 - Thursday, 11 February 2021
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though, while she might be leaving the Assembly, her contributions to the community and to activism will no doubt continue. That activist’s spirit is in her DNA.
This break from the Assembly is truly deserved, because Indra’s contribution to the Greens in the personal sense has been heroic and selfless. Her contribution to the Greens’ policies and campaigns and to our ongoing quest to improve social justice and protect the environment has been immeasurable.
This has been a parliamentary career filled with achievements, and I hope Indra looks back upon it with pride. Indra has been a Greens party stalwart, an adviser, a campaign manager, an election candidate and a chief of staff. Formerly, she has worked for me, Deb Foskey and Caroline Le Couteur. But I think all Greens MLAs in the last 15 years will confess that Indra has been a great boon to them as well.
She has been the spearhead for many of the Greens’ successes. She has passionately advanced issues such as triple bottom line reporting, planning reform, the circular economy, natural ecosystems and animal welfare. I have never heard someone so fervently and so often explain the word “eat”. It is fair to say that Indra has actually had a hand in pretty much everything the ACT Greens have achieved in the last 15 years. If you turn to the index in the big book of Greens achievements, there are pages and pages under the heading “Indra”.
With all this time and effort comes a vast wealth of knowledge and experience. It is said around our office that Indra knows everything. It is amazing how often the answer to a question in the Greens office is a short pause, followed by the familiar refrain, “You’d better go and ask Indra”. And if Indra does not know the answer, rest assured she will have something on the issue stored in a box or in a pile of papers that she has kept because you never know when you might need that.
It can be taxing being an oracle, but Indra mostly relishes it. Nothing pleases her more than getting to thump the table and wave her finger and say, “I’ve been banging on about this issue since 2005 and now the government is finally doing something about it.” For the record, I did sanitise that last quote to remove the particularly emphatic language that would usually adorn such a statement. She is a passionate and enthusiastic advocate.
New starters in the Greens can sometimes be startled to meet this whirlwind of energy and conviction. Like Canberra, she is confident, bold and ready, but surprise in new staff is short-lived as they realise she simply really does give a damn. It is always comforting to know that she is on our side.
I want to emphasise the constant and ongoing sacrifices Indra has made for the Greens. She puts her heart and soul into her work, into the party and into the cause of environmental and social justice. I asked some of my colleagues—MLAs and staff—for words that come to mind when they think of Indra. Unsurprisingly, it was words like “dedicated, committed, irreplaceable and passionate”. They also obviously appreciate her unyielding determination to achieve good outcomes, as they used words like “indomitable, determined, tenacious, a hardened veteran and a magician”.
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