Ex Neighbours actor Madeleine West announces 2023 NSW election bid

Former Neighbours star Madeleine West has announced she will run as an independent in the NSW state election.

Former Neighbours actor Madeleine West has announced she is running for state parliament as an independent in Ballina.

The actor made the surprise announcement during an appearance on Studio 10 on Wednesday morning while raising awareness about the flood crisis.

“Our region has been cataclysmically failed by the government, it’s failure to act in a responsible way and deploy an actual plan to rescue the people that voted for them,” she said.

“It’s not good enough and a lot of people are talking about it but there’s a point in time where you stop talking and you start doing

“I’m not agitating to see change anymore, I want to be change and so today I’m formally announcing that I intend to run for state parliament at the New South Wales elections next year.”

Actress Madeline West. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Madeline West who played Dee with Ryan Moloney who played Toadie on Neighbours.

The self-described “environmentalist” has been volunteering with clean-up efforts in Lismore, following recent devastation caused by the flood crisis.

Her areas of focus are vulnerable and underprivileged groups including the homeless and women.

“I’ve been spending three years regenerating the Big Scrub, which was Australia’s most significant rainforest throughout the region,” she said.

“I teach drama, I’m about raising the voices of young women and breaking the bias, closing the pay gap for women in the workforce and now managing these floods.”

West has been volunteering with clean-up efforts in flood-hit Lismore.

Madeleine West is a former actor on TV soap Neighbours.

On Instagram, the mother-of-six further explained her decision to enter politics.

“My region needs a strong voice on the parliamentary floor,” she wrote.

“Australia needs a guarantee this will never happen again. We’ve talked about it enough and now is the time for action.

“I’ve spent many years agitating for change and now I want to BE the change. We are ready and we deserve it. Be the change you want to see. It’s never too late to change everything. Let’s go.”

West issued a tearful plea on social media last week urging influencers to pause any marketing campaigns during the crisis.

“It’s really, really bad. I don’t know how to describe the degree of devastation. Everything is just covered in mud, mud that you just can’t clean off, everything is just destroyed or smashed or washed away and there’s a lot of people wandering around looking a bit startled and not knowing what to do,” she said while volunteering in Lismore.

“For anyone that’s on social channels for the next couple of days … if you’re going onto socials to promote a product or to show off your new fashion line or a luxury brand, I just wanted to ask if you could please be quiet for a few days so that the emergency services and the response teams have got a medium to communicate exactly what they need because we really need hands.”