The resignation of Greens leader Cassy O’Connor leaves Tasmania’s House of Assembly without one of its most passionate voices, never one to shy away from battles on matters close to her heart.
A former journalist and community activist, she was the face of the 2004 community campaign to “Save Ralphs Bay” in Lauderdale from a large canal estate development.
She was first elected to the seat of Denison (now Clark) in the Tasmanian parliament in a countback after the resignation of Greens leader Peg Putt in 2008.
In 2010, Labor premier David Bartlett appointed Ms O’Connor and fellow Green Nick McKim to cabinet in a power-sharing deal, meaning they became the first Greens in Australia to hold cabinet positions.
In a cabinet reshuffle, she was then appointed minister for Human Services, Community Development, Aboriginal Affairs and Climate Change.
As minister, she was the driving force in the redevelopment of one of Hobart’s oldest and troubled public housing complexes, Stainforth Court — the site of a brutal murder, domestic violence incidents and a source of great stigma to residents.
Now known as Queens Walk, the apartments are a mix of affordable and social housing.
Cassy O’Connor has been the leader of the Tasmanian Greens since 2015, when Nick McKim moved to the Senate.
Ms O’Connor said her vote for the Tasmanian forest agreement was what she was most proud of in her 15 years as an MP.
“That vote in 2013 protected more than half-a-million hectares of some of our most beautiful forests,” she said at the press conference announcing her resignation.
“It turned Tasmania from a carbon emitter to a net carbon sink. It strengthened our brand and diversified our economy.”
One of Parliament’s best performers, Ms O’Connor was a fierce adversary for ministers in Question Time and Estimates hearings, often armed with more detail and more successful lines of questioning that her better-resourced counterparts.
Despite her dogged pursuit of underperforming ministers, Ms O’Connor was not afraid to afford credit to political foes where she felt it was due.
In her inaugural speech, she acknowledged former Liberal leader Will Hodgman’s personal support for the Ralphs Bay issue, and when former Liberal premier Peter Gutwein resigned in 2022, she didn’t hesitate to say that she admired him as a “conviction politician”, even if they had had a mixed professional relationship.
A savvy political operator, Cassy O’Connor was a key to installing Sue Hickey as Speaker of the House in a move that shocked Tasmanian politics in 2018.
She made it a personal crusade to give parents the choice of whether to list their child’s gender on a birth certificate, putting forward legislation with Labor.
The landmark laws, which passed in 2019, were the first to make the inclusion of gender optional on birth certificates.
Ms O’Connor has always been outspoken on issues such as housing and homelessness, climate change and Aboriginal affairs.
In recent years, she became critical of the state government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and public safety.
She has been outspoken about human rights abuses in China, as well as alleged Chinese Communist Party interests in Tasmania, leading to accusations of racist dog-whistling from other political parties.
She has also been a vocal opponent of the state government’s plans for a $750 million AFL stadium near Hobart’s waterfront.
Ms O’Connor said despite clashes in parliament, she had always tried to be kind outside of it.
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