Jim Reiher

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Profile on Jim Reiher - Candidate for La Trobe

Jim Reiher has been a member of the Greens since 2002 and has run in a number of elections since then. Jim is 54 years old, married, and has four adult children. He is also a grand-father. After finishing high school Jim was an ambulance officer (4 years), a high school teacher (8 years), a lecturer (13 years), and since 2007, he has been working as a training coordinator for a charity/welfare organisation in Dandenong Victoria.

 

Jim became a member of the Greens Party to work with a group of people who care about the future. One of the questions that the Greens like to ask of any policy or piece of legislation, has always resonated with Jim: “What will our children and grandchildren say about this policy or decision? Will they thank our generation, or be disappointed with us?” Jim has been a candidate for the Greens in a few elections. He ran for the federal seat of Holt in 2004; was the lead candidate for the state upper house region of South East Metro, in 2006; and was on the Victorian Senate ticket in 2007. He has worked on various Greens policy development groups and has helped with the Vic Greens Drugs policy, and Multiculturalism Policy.

 

Jim's family moved to Victoria in 1989 and they have had their home in Harkaway (in La Trobe) for 15 years. He has been active in other community areas including working in Casey to help get a Multi-faith Network up and running. Jim served as the chairman of the formation committee that worked for about 10 months with community religious leaders of all the main religions in Casey. The Casey Multifaith Network came into being, and Jim was its first President during 2007. The goal of the group was to demonstrate that people with different beliefs and cultural backgrounds can live in harmony and peace together, respecting differences while still being a part of one strong community.

 

Jim's passion areas are for social justice and the environment. "I want to see more done in building a nation that draws its energy from renewable energy sources. I am committed to fighting poverty, and working for solutions to our indigenous problems that empower and give dignity to the people we want to assist. We should be protecting our old growth forests and working out sustainable ways to secure our water future."

 

He has specific goals for his electorate as well. "Here in La Trobe, I want to see increased federal funding for weed control of national parks, more support to improve the public transport in the area, and feed in tariffs and rebates for solar Hot water and solar PV."

 

In his spare time Jim likes to see his family and friends, take in a good movie, walk in the bush, or just enjoy the beach on a warm day. One of his wish-list things he would like to do in the next few years is "build a greenhouse out of plastic bottles”.

 

Jim is committed to honesty and transparency in government. If decisions are made, they need to pass three tests: Is any decision of council good for the community as a whole? Is it good for the environment? And is it good for the economy? 

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