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Former Greenpeace Australia Pacific boss Steph Hodgins-May has won the contest to replace retiring Victorian Greens senator Janet Rice.<\/p>\n
The three-time candidate for the federal seat now known as Macnamara, which takes in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda and its surrounds, beat five others vying to fill the casual vacancy triggered by Rice\u2019s decision to retire before the next election.<\/p>\n
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Former MacNamara candidate Steph Hodgins-May has been selected to replace Janet Rice in the Senate next year. <\/span>Credit: <\/span>Wayne Taylor<\/cite><\/p>\n The result, which followed a week-long poll of more than 2000 Greens members, was confirmed by party officials on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n The candidates who were unsuccessful were City of Monash councillor Josh Fergeus, former Melbourne lord mayoral candidate Apsara Sabaratnam, former Legislative Council MP Huong Truong, Coburg-based surrogacy lawyer Sarah Jefford and barrister David Risstrom.<\/p>\n In a statement, Hodgins-May said she was ready to champion rent freezes as well as further climate action and cost-of-living relief.<\/p>\n \u201cOur movement is indebted to the formidable senator Janet Rice and her unwavering commitment to our party and planet. Hers are enormous shoes to fill,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a mum, the partner of a refugee and the daughter of a farmer and a teacher. The combined cost-of-living and housing crises hit close to home and I\u2019m ready to fight for fairness.\u201d<\/p>\n Greens leader Adam Bandt also paid tribute to Rice, highlighting her campaign to end native forest logging in Victoria, and described Hodgins-May as a \u201ccourageous champion\u201d for his party\u2019s values.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t wait to have Steph part of the formidable team campaigning hard to not only retain the balance of power in the Senate, but help us turn [federal Victorian] seats like Macnamara, Wills, Higgins and Cooper.\u201d<\/p>\n Rice is expected to retire in the first half of 2024. This means Hodgins-May could serve in the upper house for about 18 months before contesting her first Senate election.<\/p>\n The Greens had two Victorian senators until February this year, when Lidia Thorpe moved to the crossbench over her stance on the First Nations Voice to parliament. The party has held at least one Senate seat in Victoria since 2010.<\/p>\n