A desire to leave the world a better place for his children and grandchildren is what encouraged Terence Steele to stand as a candidate for the Greens.
A first time candidate but long time member of the party, Mr Steele lives between Kardella South and Melbourne.
Mr Steele said his top priority for Monash was taking action on climate change.
"Climate change has already caused this enormous change in the economics of this area because with less grass, you run less cattle and make less money.
"There are parts of the electorate, parts of Cowes, parts of Inverloch, that are being washed away. I don't think people are aware of what's happening."
Mr Steele said sustainable planning for future growth in Monash was necessary as climate change would "affect this electorate enormously."
"The Greens I think are the only party that have allocated money to planning and building sustainable cities," Mr Steele said. "If I was elected, I'd make sure some of that money came here."
Mr Steele said the Greens' plan to tax corporations and billionaires and use that money to invest in Medicare and other essential services would provide cost of living relief to Australians.
"The Greens were the first party to come out and say we're going to increase the contribution to Medicare, the other parties only followed along.
Additionally, Mr Steele said the Greens planned to break up the supermarket duopoly and make price gouging illegal, further easing cost of living pressures.
On nuclear energy, Mr Steele said Australians should take Peter Dutton's advice - "if you don't know, vote no."
"When it comes to stuff like this, you have to look at the experts, and all the experts have said Australia doesn't need nuclear," Mr Steele said.
"The Liberal Party who are proposing a nuclear solution, have not come out with any details and I would say in that case, I think Peter Dutton's advice should be followed when it comes to nuclear: if you don't know, vote no."
"We have sun and wind...we are blessed with an abundance of things that we don't need to rely on nuclear."
Mr Steele said there was a "definite capability" to embrace renewable energy in Monash. "I think that we have places (in Monash) that could really be used for wind power," he said.
With millennial and Gen Z voters outnumbering older Australians at the ballot box this election, Mr Steele said younger voters were looking for a source of "hope."
"Young voters think more about the future than older people do, because they're going to live much longer into the future than people like I will do. I think they're looking for hope and have their basic needs met."