Hi, I’m Jess Whittaker.

I was born and grew up in Bulli and now live in Port Kembla with my husband and two daughters. I work as a paramedic in the Illawarra and was elected as a Wollongong City Councillor for Ward 1.

I love my city. My hobbies and passions include surfing, bike riding and spending time with my family at the beach. I also help coordinate a small dunecare site and a Crop Swap in Port Kembla, and volunteer as the Vice President of the Port Kembla Chamber of Commerce.

I became politically engaged as an environmental activist. From a young age I could see that the world, especially our climate, wasn’t heading in a good direction, and I wanted to be part of the solutions. After studying science at university, joining climate protests, organising beach clean ups and tree planting days, and campaigning to clean up our local waterways as well as build skateparks and bike paths in the Illawarra, I realised that real change happens when we elect people who want to make a difference.

The Greens inspired me because they make an impact wherever they’re elected, even when they rarely hold power. Greens councillors make themselves accessible to the community and have policies that improve people’s lives. I’m proud to be part of a team of passionate community members working for ecological sustainability, peace and non-violence, grassroots democracy and social justice.

As a councillor, I’m constantly listening to people throughout the city and working with them to build connected villages that are rich in culture and celebrate diversity. I believe we must continue to build more footpaths, cycleways and shared paths, improve our bike network and make our pedestrian crossings safe for everyone.

Currently, as a councillor, I support:

• Community-led sustainable development and affordable housing
• Protecting our unique environment from the coast to the escarpment
• Climate-proofing our neighbourhoods by creating a green, leafy and cool city
• A city with world-class active and public transport solutions
• A city with world-class artists and great local venues

Wollongong is a fantastic city, and we’re lucky to call it home. I will continue to fight for our council so we can make our city easier to get around, with lots of fun and interesting things to do, and make sure we build enough affordable housing so our kids can live and work here in the future.