Elouise Massa, the North Balgowlah mum who successfully campaigned for the local hospital to be put in public hands after the death of her son, has announced she will stand as an independent for the seat of Manly in the 2027 state election.
The long-held Liberal seat will be hotly contested as decade-long incumbent James Griffin has announced he will not be standing. A replacement candidate has yet to be named.
Speaking with Manly Observer earlier today, Mrs Massa confirmed she was not aligned with any political party nor had she sought the backing of the Teal campaign. Teal independent Joeline Hackman may still again contest the seat, though she is yet to confirm. “For now, I’m focused on doing the job I was elected to do as a councillor. State planning and housing, cost of living, integrity and the environment are key issues for the next term. If people in the community want me to take that advocacy to the State Parliament, I’m sure they’ll let me know,” Ms Hackman said when quizzed on running.
“I am hopeful for a new generation of Manly’s future with a strong community-led independent representative.”
Mrs Massa said she had no alignment but would welcome support from the Teal campaigners and volunteers, given she shares similar goals around climate resilience and integrity in government.
“My policy platform starts at hospital, ensuring that we can continue to have access to really good public healthcare,” Mrs Massa said. “Then it moves on to cost of living and small business. I know how to run a small business and I know the constraints that go along with it, so I’m looking at removing the red tape around that and easing cost of living. We want to get more people in the Beaches successfully running and starting new businesses.”
Mrs Massa, a mother of four, former broadcast journalist, health and human-rights advocate with a Master of Human Rights Law and Policy, and small-business owner, is best known for the advocacy that followed the death of her son Joe at Northern Beaches Hospital in September 2024, a campaign that delivered three major reforms to the NSW health system: Joe’s Law, the landmark ban on future public-private partnerships for acute care; the transition of Northern Beaches Hospital to public ownership; and a new in-hospital escalation program, Raise It.
“I am not the same person I was before Joe died. Creating meaningful change has become a vocation.”
“For the past two years, I’ve been advocating from outside Parliament, and I’ve seen what can happen when courage in the community is met by people in government who genuinely listen and act. Now I want to take our community’s voice directly into Parliament.”
“I am not the same person I was before Joe died. Creating meaningful change has become a vocation… People stop me in the street and tell me to keep going. This is how I want to keep going by listening, discerning, and taking our community’s voice to parliament. I’ll bring the same determination and love that has carried me these past few years. This is who I am now, and I’m stepping forward with love, joy and freedom.”
“We live in one of the best parts of NSW. But the pressures are real: the cost of living and doing business, housing and development, and congestion on roads that haven’t kept pace.”
“One person speaking up can start something. A community can give that voice strength. Good people in government can turn that momentum into lasting change.”
Mrs Massa joins a growing wave of community independents on the Northern Beaches, following Jacqui Scruby in Pittwater and Michael Regan in Wakehurst, who successfully flipped two formerly Liberal-held seats to independents.
The NSW State Election will be held on 13 March 2027.
