By Derek Schlennstedt
Former Victorian Greens MP Samantha Dunn announced her resignation from the party on 14 March saying that her decision was made due to a “toxic” culture within the party ranks.
Ms Dunn, who was a Yarra Ranges Councillor up until 2014 was the Upper House MP for the Eastern Metropolitan region for a single term – losing her seat at the 2018 election.
In a scathing post on Facebook, Ms Dunn denied her decision to quit was triggered by her election loss.
“I didn’t resign because I lost my seat …I resigned because the Greens are too toxic to be part of my life anymore,” she said
“The standard you walk by is the standard you accept, and I’m not prepared to walk by and accept any more of the culture, behaviours and practice I see in the Greens.
“The Greens are distracted by populism, self-interest, power, ego, narcissism, megalomania … while exercising that old-war strategy of divide and conquer.”
Ms Dunn was previously a Yarra Ranges Shire Councillor, representing the Lyster Ward from 2005 until her election to the Upper House in 2014.
She joined the Greens in 2004 inspired by founder Bob Brown’s stance against the Iraq war and her passion for the environment and action on climate change.
In her Facebook post she reflected on her achievements, though admitted since joining the Greens their values no longer suit her own.“I will always be proud of my achievements as the first Green elected at Yarra Ranges Shire Council and in the Eastern Metropolitan Region” she said.
“I’ve always been passionate about the environment, stopping logging and action on climate change, long before the Greens were a thing.
“The Greens were a pretty good fit in terms of policy and values. The Greens still are a pretty good fit in terms of policy and values, but there’s a problem … concerningly many Greens in leadership, governance and representative positions don’t act in a way consistent with those values, the standard they walk by and accept is at complete odds with those values.”
She said she would still be an environmental activist despite her resignation.
“I won’t be going away any time soon, I’ll be still out there fighting for environment, stopping logging and action on climate change … If there’s one thing I know for sure, once an environmental activist, always an environmental activist.”
