Mat Hines

Mat Hines is a former Australian local politician and student union leader. He was elected to the City Council of the Tasmanian capital city, Hobart, at the age of 24 . Hines served as a Tasmanian Greens alderman on the Hobart City Council from 2002-2005. During his time on council he campaigned on issues including affordable housing, sustainable transport and ecologically sustainable development. Prior to his election he had ran as a Greens candidate in the 1998 Federal election for the seat of Denison and in the 2002 Tasmanian State Election, in which he came close to winning a second seat for the Greens in the state seat of Denison. Upon his retirement from council in 2005, Hines’ seat was won by fellow Greens candidate Helen Burnet . Hines gained his community profile after working, initially as an environmental activist and then in the student union movement as the Environment Officer (1998) and Queer Officer (2001) at the University of Tasmania and as the National Environment Officer of the National Union of Students in 2000. During his term as National Environment Officer he ran national campaigns on Genetic Engineering/Organic Agriculture, Uranium, Sustainable Transport and co-ordinated student participation in the World Economic Forum (S11) protests in Melbourne. In 1997 and 2001 Hines was a finalist for the Australian Young Achiever of the Year Awards (Environment Category), recognising his contributions to the student environment movement and campaigns to protect Tasmania's forests.