DOCTOR Cate Sinclair says she has seen firsthand how cost-of-living pressures, insecure housing and underfunded services have affected families across Victoria. Those experiences have motivated her to enter politics, standing as the Greens’ lead upper house candidate for Northern Victoria.
A former occupational therapist and researcher at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Dr Sinclair worked with young people living with chronic illnesses and said she observed that many of their difficulties extended beyond medical issues.
“I was seeing kids in distress, but often it was the whole family that was struggling,” she said. “Many were dealing with housing insecurity, rising living costs or mental health concerns. While clinical care helped, it was clear the broader issues needed to be addressed at a policy level,” Dr Sinclair said.
Dr Sinclair said her decision to join the Greens stemmed from wanting to see greater attention given to housing affordability, community wellbeing and environmental sustainability.
“Northern Victoria’s resilience and resourcefulness can lead the way,” she said.
Among her key priorities are improving access to affordable housing and strengthening local services. She said housing costs were increasingly pricing out regional families.
“Families in regional Victoria that historically could afford to live near their relatives suddenly can’t anymore,” she said. “People moving from the city see the benefits of country life, but locals are finding it harder to stay.”
Her background in children’s health research, she said, revealed how financial pressures can affect family wellbeing. “The number of kids with chronic pain, anxiety and mental health issues has grown,” she said. “Parents are under huge pressure coping with mortgages and everyday costs.”
Dr Sinclair also argues that health, the environment and the economy are interconnected, and that more investment in early intervention services, such as counselling and parental support programs, could prevent greater costs later.
On environmental issues, she supports renewable energy and climate adaptation projects, such as community batteries and local solar initiatives. “Energy security and climate resilience go hand-in-hand,” she said.
Dr Sinclair said she hopes to bring a practical and community-focused voice to state parliament if elected. “Our communities deserve to be heard,” she said.
