'It's an everyday thing for me'

Check out Paola in today's Illawarra Mercury, in response to Labor candidate Ryan Park's 'extraordinary' pledge to volunteer one day a week if elected to parliament. The Merc contacted other candidates to ask if they would match Park's pledge. Paola replied, 'I already volunteer a lot of time to community-based activist groups. It's an everyday thing for me and I'd continue it if elected. I think MPs should be better in touch with their community; the role of an MP is to work with people.'

Over the last two weeks for example Paola has spent countless hours in the streets gathering signatures on a petition calling for support for Julian Assange and Wikileaks. She's also been contacting our local federal MPs, on behalf of Equal Love, to find out what they've been doing to seek out their constituent's views on equal marriage.

Given Ryan Park's Labor Party governs in the interests of the corporate elite and continues efforts to shift wealth from the poor to the rich, we'd encourage him to leave the ALP and join the struggle for a better world. The sooner we build a pro-poor alternative to Labor and Liberal, the sooner we'll see real action for those most in need.