SWAN Hills MLA Jessica Shaw says she will miss many of the people she met during her time in politics but won’t miss the long hours.

Ms Shaw announced this week that she would not run in the March 2025 state election.

During her time representing Swan Hills Ms Shaw has supported many community campaigns including residents opposed to fracking in the Swan Valley and the Perth Hills,  increased trucks on Chittering Road, the Upper Swan bitumen plant and The Vines redevelopment.

Ms Shaw has also worked with the community to deliver the Ellenbrook Youth Centre, which she rated as probably her proudest achievement.

She also advocated to stop the proposal to develop a tip adjacent to homes in Bullsbrook, ensure funding for a new fire station in West Gidgegannup, stop the Red Hill Quarry face from breaking through to the Swan Valley and diverting development away from the Gogomite (a  heritage site).

Other advocacy projects included fighting the rezoning of Malvern Springs parkland into dense housing, preserving the remaining Chidlow war camps, having the Shire of Mundaring undertake a heritage survey, expanding nature reserve in Gidgegannup and saving the Mount Helena pool from closure.

Ms Shaw highlighted along with Treasurer and Swan MLA Rita Saffioti getting funding for the Ellenbrook community hub and pool.

The Vines Residents and Ratepayers Association (The VRRA) said they were first introduced to Ms Shaw about three years  ago and since then she had become a constant source of support to their organisation in their struggles against unwanted development in their suburb.

“Always available to meet with us despite her obvious busy schedule,’’ the association said.

“Jessica represented us at a very important JDAP meeting last year.

“Her deputation to the panel was very persuasive indeed and played a key role in our win.

“Her recent speech to parliament regarding unfair development at The Vines has been seen and listened to by thousands of people now.

“We are very grateful for her courage in doing this.

“Jessica is what all the very best local members should be.

“Caring for their constituents, standing beside them in a time of need and always true to her word.

“We are sure going to miss her and wish her all the very best.’’

Ms Shaw said she had met some amazing folk during her time in office.

“I have had the best staff you could ever hope for – they constantly go above and beyond – I’ll miss working with them so very much,” she said.

“I’ve also loved those local characters who make life in Swan Hills such fun, those who have given my team and I purpose, those who do so much hard work to build community.

“I love visiting local schools and hearing about what’s important to our young people. They keep you on your toes and can be so funny.

“We have the highest proportion of young people in our electorate.

“What we do to help them today will determine the shape of our future tomorrow.

“In Parliament, I tackled some really interesting issues through my committee work, particularly in energy transition, short stay accommodation, regional airfares, motor insurance and trade policy.

“As a Parliamentary Secretary, I loved the work we did to help the tourism sector recover from Covid-19, and more recently my work in energy transition.”

She confirmed that  she wants  to pursue a more active role in energy transition and believes she can do a better job of that out of Parliament.