About Me

Hi, I’m Madeleine Ham, a 22-year-old climate activist and urban planning advocate. I’ve lived my entire life in the Hunter Valley, and I’m committed to building a future here that’s sustainable and fair, not one decided for us by Sydney or Canberra.

My activism started in 2018 with Newcastle School Strike 4 Climate, organising climate protests as a school student.

In 2021, I ran as an independent candidate for Lake Macquarie City Council in North Ward. I wasn’t elected, but the campaign, built around fixing our car dependency and suburban sprawl, reinforced how much I care about these issues. I ran again in 2024, this time as a Greens candidate, and recorded the best result the Greens have ever had in North Ward: over 14% of the primary vote, plus 10% in the Mayoral race.

In 2025, I led the doorknocking campaign for the Greens here in Newcastle. I then took a sabbatical in Germany for the first half of 2026, but I’m back home now and back on the ground with the Greens and other activist groups around Newcastle.

During the 2021 Hunter COVID outbreak, I built a website to track regional data, addressing the lack of localised information caused by our region being grouped in with Sydney. You can still find an archive of that site at covid.bryce.eco.

In late 2023, I joined a Rising Tide blockade at the Port of Newcastle, calling for a 75% tax on coal profits to fund community transition and pay for climate loss and damage. I was one of the people arrested. I stand by that decision. I believe in taking bold action on the climate crisis.

This blog is where I write about climate activism, local politics, and urban planning in the Hunter Valley. A few posts to start with: