Election feature: Elly Mousellis – Animal Justice Party

Candidate statement:

"The Bass electorate is home to a collection of diverse townships, each unique to their surroundings. Bass is an incredibly desirable place to live, work, and visit. Because of this, the population of Bass is growing, one of the fastest in Victoria.

I believe it is important to ensure that this growth is sustainable, and that an eye is always kept on the impact on not just our local communities, but our local biodiversity. Our native flora and fauna, some uniquely found in Bass, is at risk.

The core foci of the Animal Justice Party are Animals, People, Planet. To ensure the health and wellbeing of our animals and our planet, is to ensure the health and wellbeing of our people. We want Bass to continue to be a desirable place to be for ourselves and the native species we share it with.

One of my main priorities is to showcase my strong support for the end to sandmining in the Westernport Woodlands, and the preservation of the habitat for the animals that rely on it. Such as the Southern Brown Bandicoot, the Powerful Owl, the Giant Gippsland Earthworm, and many more with conservation status ranging from critically endangered to threatened and vulnerable. It is important that we put our foot down to senseless destruction, and think more in the long term, respecting the impacts our actions have on the land around us. Because things like this will catch up to our communities in time.

When I began working at a local pet supplies store, I came face to face with a range of diverse issues within our local community, but also with animal-centric industries. I got to know many families closely through their animal-related endeavours and struggles. Animals are incredibly valuable companions in our homes, but unfortunately, considering the vast majority of people who have companion animals in their lives, simple things like going to the vet can be an extreme financial burden on families who are already doing it tough. I’ve met families who are forced to take the advice of a young person trying their best behind a retail counter rather than speak to a trained professional because in some cases it’s just not financially viable to do the latter.

I found that the Animal Justice Party’s passed Veticare motion, to make vet care more accessible and affordable had the solutions that I was looking for. Particularly, being a regional area, solutions like the proposed veterinary hotline similar to 13Sick in human healthcare struck me as genius. And being a Wildlife Victoria volunteer, the proposed dedicated wildlife hospitals with wildlife-skilled vets sounds exponentially fantastic for our local vulnerable wildlife. Being such a beautiful electorate dusted with coastal villages, charming townships, and precious forest corridors, I feel there is not a strong enough voice when it comes to animal/biodiversity-related discussion. So when the position for Candidate for Bass was open, I took that opportunity to be the voice."