The woman the Animal Justice Party wants to get in NSW Parliament

When you meet Emma Hurst there’s certain things you’d naturally assume, but what she did last year isn’t one of them.

Everyone loves a mind-blowing transformation story, but Emma Hurst’s is different again.

If you see the green-eyed blonde walking the streets of Sydney in her Animal Justice Party T-shirt, there’s a couple of things you’d assume — she’s into protecting animals and, unsurprisingly, vegan.

But throw in vegan bodybuilder turned political candidate and the 39-year-old epitomises a transformation story.

Last year when she joined a gym that was heavily into bodybuilding and was told a vegan could never get involved in that scene, she set out to prove naysayers wrong.

She won three of the four competitions for her age group in the Australasian Natural Bodybuilding competition in NSW, beating women who were living on a diet of chicken and broccoli while she was feasting on tofu and tempeh.

Emma Hurst when she was bodybuilding last year.

She won competing as a vegan when people didn’t think she could.

Ms Hurst, who’s running for the upper house in NSW, did the competitions alongside her partner Damon Salakas who also competed and won as a vegan bodybuilder.

The two met at a greyhound racing protest event four years ago, bonding over animal rights and exercise.

“I was doing weights and he was running, so I started running and we did a few half marathons, and then I wanted to go back to doing weights,” she said.

“We’d go out for coffee dates and have a black coffee because there wasn’t many options.

“It was really liberating for me at 37 to get the best figure I’ve ever had.

“I got told, ‘You’re 37, you’re vegan. You won’t be able to do what we’re doing’, and I thought, ‘Yes I can’. I wanted to prove I could.”

Ms Hurst is also out to prove Australians are more aware of animal rights issues by getting votes for her party on March 23.

“Our awareness is growing so much, people know what live export is now, the majority of Australians are against the caged egg industry, and the government is refusing to take action against this,” she said.

Now she wants to be a politician.

The token ‘before’ shot last year.

In 2015, the party made history when Mark Pearson became its first candidate elected to NSW.

They have a record 53 candidates running in the state election, campaigning on freeing hens, protecting kangaroos and the environment.

But Ms Hurst said they were about protecting people too, with “progressive” policies around helping farmers transition away from industries such as dairy to more plant-based agriculture methods.

“We are a political party that cares about people too,” she said.

“At the moment there's too much dairy, milk is too cheap and farmers are struggling.”

Ms Hurst hasn’t touched milk for 19 years. Anyone in the Animal Justice Party has to be a vegan or at least making the transition.

“There’s a lot of Greens switching to us as well because they don’t have good policies on animals, particularly roo shooting and culling brumbies.”

Ms Hurst is running for the Animal Justice Party.

While Ms Hurst hasn’t had time to get back into bodybuilding because she’s been campaigning full-time, the registered psychologist can at least treat herself to vegan treats now — and she said even that had come a long way.

She enjoys “accidental vegan” treats like Oreos, Skittles, Barbecue Shapes and Domino’s vegan cheese pizza when she’s not training.

“I guess being a vegan bodybuilder makes me a bit different to Mark Latham and some of the other people running,” she laughed.