Dr Mila Kasby: Meet the Hills Shire’s first ever Greens councillor

The first Greens councillor in the Hills has said local people were given a wake-up call on climate change after the Black Summer bushfires came perilously close.

The first Greens member to be elected to Hills Shire Council has said the Black Summer fires gave local people a wake-up call on climate change.

Mila Kasby, a vet who has lived in the Hills since she was seven, has become the first Greens councillor following the December local election.

She said it was the 2019 federal election which spurred her on to stand.

“The election results shocked me and I was just feeling really down and frustrated, so I started looking for anything I could do that would have some kind of impact,” Cr Kasby said.

Cr Kasby, the first Greens councillor elected to Hills Shire Council.

She said she noticed an uptick in concern about the effects of climate change after the Black Summer bushfires that came perilously close to burning in her electorate, the North Ward.

“People were concerned because they could see that climate change is here — no longer just an abstract problem,” she said.

“If those fires jumped the river and if the Maroota State Forest had caught on fire, then we would’ve been in real trouble.

“It was a mixture of the fire brigade’s hard work and fortune that (the fire) never actually made it across the river … so, yeah it was very lucky that we escaped but it was also so scary.

“But still, every summer, I’m worried and I hold my breath because it’s only going to get worse.”

Danielle Packer (L) and Cr Kasby in front of the Platypus Hub, a local environment centre

When knocking on people’s doors, Cr Kasby said she noticed that few people linked fighting climate change to local government’s responsibilities.

She was often told to “stick to roads and rubbish because that’s all a local government needs to be worrying about.”

Cr Kasby believes this is a misconception about the role of council.

“The local government has an important role to play in the big picture stuff as well … particularly as the new council will have to help the NSW Government meet its target of 50% emissions reductions by 2030,” she said.

Another common frustration Cr Kasby noted when door knocking was the perception that different rules apply to developers.

She said voters felt they were unable to cut down single dangerous trees in their backyard, but developers were allowed to decimate whole areas of trees.

“There was a feeling that it wasn’t fair, that people are being treated differently depending on whether they’re a private landowner or a developer,” Cr Kasby said.

On polling day: Cr Kasby with her husband and two brothers

Cr Kasby also said she was keen to address three common misconceptions of The Greens.

She hit back at claims The Greens are not financially responsible. “Renewable energy is speaking for itself, it’s the best economic way to go,” Cr Kasby said.

She also said she wanted to correct the assumption that no trees can be cut down.

“Of course, if there’s people in danger, with diseased trees or there are trees in the line of sight of traffic, human safety has to come first.”

She also said many people believed The Greens are against all development.

“We’re not,” she said. “We just think it can be done in a much more sustainable way … in better ways that benefit both the new residents moving into the area and the community as a whole — not just the developers,” she said.

The Hills Shire’s first Green councillor

Over the course of her term in office, Cr Kasby said she wants to turn the Hills “into a shining example of how life can be better.”

“People are scared, there’s a lot of doom and gloom about the future, but changing to a low carbon economy will improve our lives … it’s going to be more affordable because energy will be cheaper and we’re going to be healthier because it will improve our quality of life,” she said.

She knows she will be the lone Greens voice on council, but said this wouldn’t deter her from trying to create change in government.

She predicted other councillors will be more ready to listen to her on climate action because it makes economic sense: “the economics speak for themselves … times are changing.”

She added: “There’s always going to be some difference of opinions and different views … but I really like talking to people and collaborating,” she said.

“I think everyone is there for the benefit of the community, so they all want a good outcome (and) I’m looking forward to working with them.”