Damien Stevens is the Greens candidate for the state seat of Shepparton. He lives in a colorful home with his partner Cris Todd and several pets. Stevens works as a community development worker focusing on diversity and youth issues. He is passionate about LGBTQ+ rights, the environment, renewable energy, health care, and drug rehabilitation. While acknowledging he is unlikely to win the seat, Stevens wants to better inform voters about Greens policies and support the local community.

1. 6 SNNEWS SHEPPARTON NEWS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014
State Election 2014
Man of the GreensCOMMUNITY WELFARE WORKER STEVENS EXPLAINS PARTY’S MESSAGE ON WIDE RANGE OF ISSUES
In the garden: Damien Stevens in his garden with cat Phantom.
Relaxing: Mr Stevens’ home is bright and cheery.
Conducting business: Mr Stevens on the phone in his
colourful kitchen.
Famous names: Stevens
with Liza Minnelli and
Elizabeth Taylor.
Beyond the beautifully-
sculptured front garden and
behind the tall gates of
Shepparton Greens candidate
Damien Stevens’ and Cris
Todd’s home are Elizabeth
Taylor, Liza Minnelli, Phantom
(of the Opera) and Glen 20.
Ms Taylor is his friendly staffy,
his Border collie-cross is
named after Ms Minnelli and I
saw Phantom his cat, but the
other cat Glen 20 was not
around — I was curious about
why he was called after the
disinfectant spray, but it was
a long story, and we were
there to chat politics.
Beyond the avalanche of
animals, Mr Stevens’ home
had many rainbow-coloured
cushions, bowls and flags and
a brightly-coloured
Indigenous painting.
On the kitchen wall is a
blown-up front page of The
Age dating back to August 2,
2009 with Mr Stevens and his
partner Cris Todd kissing to
demonstrate defiance of the
Federal Government’s stance
on keeping gay marriage
illegal.
Mr Stevens was unsure when
he joined the Greens, but has
been a member for several
years and ran for the federal
seat of Murray last year.
He came in third place,
despite only receiving 3485
first preference votes —
Labor’s Rod Higgins received
18 403 and Liberal Sharman
Stone won in a landslide with
54 490 votes.
When asked if he thought he
stood a chance of winning the
state seat of Shepparton, he
said, ‘‘No.’’
He admitted to being honest
about this because he
believed truth and integrity
were his best attributes and
what a politician should stand
for.
Mr Stevens said he was too
time-poor to campaign
earnestly, while recognising
the Greens still had a lot of
work to do in regional and
rural Victoria.
‘‘We have a bit of work to to
better inform and explain
about our policies and plans
for the future and people,’’ he
said.
He said he was willing to do
as much as he could to
support the people of the
Shepparton electorate.
‘‘For me politics is about
people not policy,’’ he said.
He said there were
misconceptions the Greens
opposed fishing and fire-
prevention measures such as
burning parts of the bush
before fire seasons.
However, Mr Stevens and his
party do oppose hunting of
ducks and vermin.
In regards to the live cattle
trade, he believed animals
should be killed in their
country of origin and the
carcasses exported, which
was more humane.
He has no problem with the
Islamic method of Halal
slaughtering and dislikes that
people get on their
soapboxes about it to spread
Islamaphobia.
Mr Stevens works as a
community development
worker for Kildonan Uniting
Care and is focusing on a
diversity project to improve
the health and self-
confidence of young people,
especially those who may
have issues surrounding their
sexuality.
He also helps teachers
understand the difficulties
same-sex attracted,
transgendered and
transexual students may face
in school.
Mr Stevens said people
facing different sexuality
issues were four to six times
more likely to suicide and he
wanted this to stop.
He said young people needed
a safe place to speak about
their sexuality.
Because he is in an
environment where he needs
to have good listening skills,
he also hears about the many
different people who use the
drug ice, including young
people and skilled
professionals.
He attended an ice forum at
Moama recently and heard
from police officers that
tackling the dealers — some
of who were members of
bikie gangs — was coming
from a higher level than the
local police.
Mr Stevens agreed with this
move for the safety of local
officers.
He said if elected he would
look for a drug and alcohol
detox and rehabilitation for
Shepparton.
Last week, the Victorian
Coalition agreed to put in
$75 million towards the
Shepparton hospital, if
elected.
Mr Stevens said he wanted to
take this commitment a step
further and get a new
hospital on a new site.
‘‘GV Health is a very old
building, it is dated and
aged,’’ he said.
‘‘My personal experience in
there was not an enjoyable
one.’’
When it comes to care for the
environment Mr Stevens is
keen to harness some of the
Shepparton electorate’s
sunshine and move to
renewable energy such as
solar and wind power.
Being a cancer survivor, Mr
Stevens is conscious about
cancer-causing agents such
as pesticides.
He believes pesticide use in
the electorate is contributing
to higher cancer rates.
Mr Stevens is not suggesting
banning the substances, but
would like to discuss more
sustainable farming with
pesticide users, which he
believed would benefit the
farmer, the environment and
the population.
However, he does want to
ban genetically modified
crops, which he believes are
not good for human health.
Mr Stevens also wants to ban
fracking in Victoria, which he
believes is ruining the
environment, especially the
soil around the fracking site.
When it comes to climate
change, he believes there is
adequate proof the planet’s
climate is changing.
‘‘You only need to look at the
data, local temperatures, a
change in sea levels . . .,’’ he
said.
When asked what he thought
about the Federal
Government looking into the
Bureau of Meteorology’s
temperature figures, he
compared it to a movie he
watched recently where the
government twisted the truth
significantly to suit its own
agenda.
Outside of politics, Mr
Stevens was the founder of
the Out in the Open Festival
— due to take place this
weekend — he is press
officer for GV Pride and on
the Victorian Aids Council.
He is proud the Out and the
Open festival grew from a
sole founder — himself — to
a committee of 18 and this
year the festival has 45
stallholders.
Mr Stevens loves to travel
and has been to Canada,
Hawaii, New Caledonia and
Hong Kong to name a few of
his far-flung destinations.
Some weekends he visits his
88-year-old grandmother in
Benalla and visits friends in
Melbourne once a month.
With the state election
taking place on
November 29, News
journalist ELAINE
COONEY has visited
the candidates in their
homes. As well as
learning what they
stand for, she gets an
exclusive glimpse of
their private worlds.
Today, Greens
candidate for
Shepparton Damien
Stevens is in the
spotlight.