Gillian Blair's qualifications are in social welfare, and she has worked with organisations that care for older people. She has also worked in the personnel departments of various companies, plus in the fields of rural finance, workers' compensation, and health.

Gillian currently lives on a dairy farm in South West Victoria. She believes that animals should be treated humanely, and that factory farming is cruel and unnecessary. Her interests include sustainable farming, and the health and environmental issues related to petrochemical products. She is an independent distributor for organic personal care products and non-toxic paints and runs a weekly community radio show, “Green Connections”, which deals with human rights and environmental issues.

Gillian has campaigned on a vast number of issues, including promoting public awareness and governmental change on clear-fell logging of native forests, and the related issues of water supplies and preservation of native species. She is a member of the Otways Conservation Council.

She is opposed to the logging and plantation spraying in Warrnambool’s water catchments and in areas of the Otways that have not previously been logged, and therefore not assessed for their bio-diversity. These areas and the species they contain are still at risk from logging.

"All the previous decisions people have had to make have been about short term or personal issues. Now we have to decide on whether to look after the Earth and all its inhabitants into infinity. It is important that the people and parties we elect will be ethical and far-sighted. In Australia, the only political party that fits this requirement is the Greens. The other parties realise this, and are doing their best to stay in power and carry on with business as usual. By the time they change their ways, it will be too late. Vote for the Earth, for Humanity and a more hopeful future. Vote for the Greens."

The Western Victoria Region covers an area from Horsham, Stawell, Maryborough and Kyneton in the north to the south-west coast in the south, and from the South Australian border in the west to Bacchus Marsh, Geelong and Queenscliff in the east.

To contact Gillian Blair, please send an e-mail to:
gillian.blair@vic.greens.org.au

For more information on the new electoral system for the Upper House, visit the Victorian Electoral Commission's website: http://www.vec.vic.gov.au