Karina Kelly has called Broadford home for the past five years, moving there during the COVID-19 pandemic to be closer to family and to work at Kilmore Hospital, then at the Northern Hospital. She quickly fell in love with the area and is proud to still call Broadford home today. She now works for a trade union, fighting to improve pay and conditions for healthcare workers across the state.

When we work together, we create meaningful change. Now more than ever, we need to be a community where everyone, including students, workers, stay-at-home parents and retirees alike, can use their voices to shape the future we share and leave for generations to come.

By living and working in the community, Karina knows its services are not keeping pace with the region’s rapid growth. This means serious investment is needed in education and training opportunities, including a high school in Kilmore, more local TAFE courses and a regional university centre to support students studying remotely. With the cost of living higher than ever, living away from home to attend tertiary education is not a viable option for many young people today, so these opportunities need to be brought closer to home. She also believes there must be an immediate upgrade to V/Line trains and buses, with more frequent services and more carriages during peak periods. And critically, the region needs dedicated mental health services and a new major hospital.

Having lived through the 2022 floods and 2026 fires, Karina has seen firsthand the community’s resilience when disaster strikes. In the years to come, the community will need to be proactive in implementing evidence-based climate change prevention strategies.

Karina stands with the Animal Justice Party (AJP) this election because animal welfare, native wildlife protection and environmental sustainability are inseparable from the future of the region. The AJP has a strong record of achieving positive change, including securing state funding for Victoria’s first not-for-profit vet clinic in Castlemaine. Similar affordable vet care can be delivered locally, alongside Veticare (bulk-billed pet appointments), to reduce costs for households across the region.

If successful, Karina will fight for stronger laws and penalties for animal cruelty, a dedicated wildlife hospital, and wildlife overpasses and underpasses in major infrastructure projects to reduce instances of road strikes, specifically collisions with kangaroos on local roads. She believes the community deserves genuine consultation on projects that affect its future, like the Sunday Creek exploration decline, energy developments, and logging in native forests.

Karina is standing with the AJP to put regional Victorians, workers, animals, and the environment ahead of the interests of big business, and to create a community where everyone has a voice.

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Contact Karina

You can reach Karina via [email protected].