Cate Faehrmann
| Cate Faehrmann | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Chief of staff to Richard Di Natale | |
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Assumed office 25 May 2015 |
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| Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council | |
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In office 7 September 2010 – 18 June 2013 |
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| Preceded by | Lee Rhiannon |
| Succeeded by | Mehreen Faruqi |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
17 March 1970 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Greens New South Wales |
| Website | Cate Faehrmann |
Cate Faehrmann (born 17 March 1970) is an Australian politician, environmental activist and the chairperson of Sea Shepherd Australia. Faehrmann was a Greens New South Wales member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 2011 to 2013. She resigned from the Legislative Council in June 2013 in order to stand for the Australian Senate at the 2013 federal election, but was unsuccessful. She now works in the office of the Leader of the Australian Greens Richard Di Natale as his chief of staff.
Faehrmann was born in Darlinghurst, New South Wales and spent her childhood in a small country town west of Brisbane. Her adoptive parents ran the local chemist, and she attended a Toowoomba boarding high school.
She attended Griffith University 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.
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."
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