Greens apologise for claiming candidate would be first Indigenous MP if elected

The Greens made an embarrassing mistake in an email asking supporters for money, with the party forced to make a grovelling apology.

The Greens have apologised after mistakenly claiming one of their NSW upper house candidates would be the first Indigenous MP in the state.

The error was made in a fundraising email sent on Tuesday asking for support for a candidate for the 2023 state election, Wiradjuri and Badu Island woman Lynda-June Coe.

In an apology sent later on Tuesday, state election campaign co-ordinator Andrew Blake said the party “unreservedly” apologised to federal Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney, who spent 13 years as the state MP for Canterbury.

NSW Greens upper house candidate Lynda-June Coe described herself as coming from ‘a proud line of matriarchs and warriors who have resisted the continuing colonisation and erasure of our people, country and culture’. Picture: Facebook

The apology was also directed at Auburn MP Lynda Voltz, whose Aboriginal grandfather grew up on the St Clair Aboriginal Mission in Singleton.

“Recently, we sent you an email from our State election candidate, Lynda-June Coe,” Mr Blake wrote.

“The original email incorrectly stated that, if elected, Lynda-June would be ‘the first First Nations woman in the NSW Parliament’.

“In fact, Linda Burney was elected as the Member for Canterbury to the Lower House in 2003, and Lynda Voltz was elected to the Upper House in 2007.

Lynda Voltz is the member for the state electorate of Auburn. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

Linda Burney sat in state parliament for more than a decade. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“Greens NSW unreservedly apologises to Ms Burney and Ms Voltz and acknowledges the work they have done for the people of NSW during their time in the NSW parliament.”

The Greens did not respond to requests for comment.

Ms Coe said in the fundraising email she comes from “a proud line of matriarchs and warriors who have resisted the continuing colonisation and erasure of our people, country and culture.”

“They strengthened my connection to these lands and instilled in me the importance of remembering, respecting and learning from my ancestors,” she continued.

Ms Coe will campaign along sitting upper house MP Cate Faehrmann and two other new candidates, Amanda Cohn and Jim Casey.