5 February 2009 - High-profile environmental lawyer Larissa Waters has been announced as the Greens candidate for the key seat of Mt Coot-Tha, held by Treasurer Andrew Fraser.
Ms Waters narrowly missed out on becoming the first Greens Senator for Queensland in the 2007 federal election. She also ran for the Greens against Peter Beattie in 2006, where she received a 6% swing.
“The Greens are expecting to win the seat of Mt Coot-Tha and to re-elect Ronan Lee in Indooroopilly, plus significantly increase our vote in the Premier’s seat of South Brisbane and the inner seats of Brisbane Central and Yeerongpilly. There is a real possibility that the Greens will hold the balance of power in Queensland Parliament after the 2009 election,” said Ms Waters.
“Andrew Fraser has presided over forced Council amalgamations, the failure of the health system and an economy that remains dependent on coal. For someone so young, he’s mired in last century thinking,” said Ms Waters.
“The Greens want to transition Queensland’s economy to job-rich sustainable industries like renewable energy, public transport, tourism and sustainable urban development.
“We can tackle climate change and create long-term jobs, but Labor can’t see that because they are blinded by the interests of their big donors – the urban development and coal industries. The Greens want to give the community and the environment a voice back in State Parliament,” continued Ms Waters.
“The voters of Mt Coot-Tha are the Greenest in the state and they are sick of not being heard. I am offering them an alternative - a long-term, sustainable vision from someone who has lived in the electorate for almost all of her life,” she said.
Ms Waters, 32, is a solicitor with degrees in environmental science and law, who has worked for 7 years in the community sector as a public interest environmental lawyer.
In that time she has helped draft tougher tree clearing laws, worked on the landmark court case to protect the Great Barrier Reef from the proposed Nathan Dam in central Queensland, advocated for better protection of the state’s remaining pristine rivers and has written a proposal to protect the state’s most important wetlands from damaging developments.
The Queensland Greens will run an environmental lawyer against incumbent treasurer Andrew Fraser at this years Queensland state election in Australia. Larissa Waters will be the party's candidate for the seat of Mt Coot-tha.

Ms Waters says she is hoping that the premier does not call the election in May, as she Ms Waters is expecting her first child that month. 

"I am giving that a fair bit of interest," she said. "Luckily we have a pretty good branch in Mt Coot-tha."

Ms Waters received a 6 per cent swing at the 2006 election in the Brisbane Central electorate, which was then held by then premier Peter Beattie. She then missed out on a federal senate spot by a narrow margin.

While acknowledging Mr Fraser's abilities, Ms Waters questions whether he was still in touch with the electorate.

"This has been the greenest electorate in Queensland is the past few elections," she said. "And Andrew Fraser is just not green enough for this electorate. It think it is more important that he is more connected with the people of his electorate than schmoozing."

The Greens unveiled its policy to open two solar power stations last weekend.

"We can tackle climate change and create long-term jobs, but Labor can't see that because they are blinded by the interests of their big donors - the urban development and coal industries," Ms Waters said.

"The Greens want to give the community and the environment a voice back in State Parliament."

Queensland's unicameral parliament is currently made up of 58 Australian Labor Party (ALP) members, 25 Liberal National Party (LNP) members, one member each from The Greens and One Nation and four independents.

Ms Waters believes there is a general dissatisfaction with both the ALP and LNP and promotes the Greens as an appropriate balance of power, similar to that of the party's federal senate members.

Acknowledging the steps taken by the premier on reforming laws to protect the Great Barrier Reef, she has said that "it is long overdue. But the package doesn't cover the complete range of issues. We need both 'stick and carrot' in our approach in this area."

Her campaign will be officially launched today on Mt Coot-tha.