Dr Tonia Gray declared she wants to see an electric train brought in to solve Kiama’s rail problem as she announced her bid to win next month’s by-election for The Greens.

The mid-term poll, brought about by disgraced independent MP Gareth Ward’s sexual assault convictions, is a chance for a party like The Greens to upset the apple cart, as they famously did in Wollongong when Michael Organ won the Cunningham federal seat in 2002.

Dr Gray said The Greens viewed the 13 September poll as a chance for the Kiama electorate to express their dissatisfaction with Premier Chris Minns’ Labor government.

“In a by-election, the Greens get galvanised, they are energised,” she said.

“I am astounded with what they achieve in basically a minority party but you've got the balance of power and that's what we should be handing them as a community.”

Dr Gray was flanked by NSW Upper House MPs Sue Higginson and Abigail Boyd as she launched her campaign on the banks of Minnamurra River.

“By-elections traditionally are a chance. They provide a whole different opportunity to a general election,” Higginson added.

“People are often looking at who the incumbent government is, seeing that they're not necessarily delivering the things that they need to make a difference in their lives right now and we can see that.

“The Minns Labor Government has not done anything for the cost of living crisis that people are experiencing.

“They're not improving access to housing, to childcare, to healthcare and this is a real issue and a by-election gives people a real chance to get a fierce, strong advocate for their community.

“They are in this very lucky position where they get to really, really send a message to the current government of the day.”

Dr Gray said she hoped that among the 20,000 people who voted for Ward at the last election, “a few of them are environmental advocates and want for their children and grandchildren, a better future for us all”.

In launching her campaign, she said a battery-powered electric train is the answer for the South Coast’s rail network problems Kiama to Bomaderry.

“Our big, bold vision is for something beyond what the rhetoric was that every other candidate has said. It seems like it's just the same rehash. Whereas ours is, firstly, if you're going to do bold leadership, you've got to have great ideas,” she said.

“It's been proven in The Netherlands. It works. You transfer from the diesel to these electric-powered trains and it's just like an electric-powered car.

“You do not need to change anything. The infrastructure is simple.

“So while we haven't come to that sort of solution before, our challenge now is to the Premier, Mr Minns, to back us in if this is a growing growth area that the Kiama electorate needs infrastructure to support it.

“Let’s bring it into the 21st century. It will not be hard. We’ve got the knowledge, we’ve got the technology, we’ve got the finances but the political system is broken.

“Within two years you would see action because it's not going to be hard, it's just finding the money, taxing coal and gas appropriately, that would fund it and then get out of dirty politics as well because we don't want big corporate donors delivering what the landscape of politics is all about.”

Boyd lashed the Government for its lack of impact in proving areas such as housing, healthcare and childcare.

“What we have in NSW is a Labor government that has no courage, no spine and has, halfway through its parliamentary term, done nothing to actually address the issues of the day,” she said.

“Here in Kiama, you have less than one available place for every four or five children looking for a place.

"We know that we have incredibly good community pre-schools here in this electorate, but we also have a number of lower-standard for-profit operators who are larger centres.

“What they are doing is charging more and more every year and we've seen a 10% to 35% increase in fees from those for-profit providers just in the last year.

“So we need more public provision of early childhood education services across Kiama and across NSW.

“You're not going to get that by electing the same old parties to do the same old things.”