Early political career (1997–2006) Pennicuik was a candidate for the
1998 Australian Constitutional Convention on the Greens' ticket, listed as 'Australian Greens – For A Republic'. Pennicuik stood for the former Ormond Ward on Port Phillip City Council in 2004, gaining 34% of the primary votes.
Member of the Legislative Council (2006–2018) Pennicuik won a seat for the Greens in the
Southern Metropolitan Region of the
Victorian Legislative Council in the
2006 state election, elected as the fourth member of the region, polling 15.34% of votes, and was amongst the first Greens elected to the Victorian Legislative Council along with
Colleen Hartland and
Greg Barber. She was re-elected in 2010 and 2014, but defeated in 2018. s and an end to
greyhound racing. During her time as a Member for the Legislative Council, Pennicuik has campaigned to ban ducking shooting in Victoria; end greyhound racing and jumps racing; supported community campaigns to save live music; and supported marriage equality. Under successive governments, Pennicuik campaigned to abolish
puppy mills in Victoria. In 2017, the government passed legislation that limited the number of fertile animals a breeder could own. In August 2017, Pennicuik moved a motion to establish a parliamentary inquiry into the government's plans to sell off multiple public housing estates in Melbourne's inner suburbs, including the Markham Estate in
Ashburton, Victoria. The motion was successful and the inquiry is expected to deliver a report in 2018. Pennicuik has served on a number of committees since entering parliament in 2006. These committees have included the Select Committee on Public Land Development (May 2007 – September 2008); Legislative Council Legislation Committee and Legislative Council Standing Orders Committee (May 2007 – November 2010); Environment and Planning Legislation Committee and Environment and Planning References Committee (February 2011 – November 2014); Legislative Council Privileges Committee (May 2007 – November 2010 and June 2011 – November 2014); Dispute Resolution Committee (May 2007 – November 2010 and June 2011 – November 2014); and Public Estimates and Accounts (March 2009 – November 2010, and 2016 to 2018).
Post-Legislative Council (2018–present) In 2019, Pennicuik was announced as the Greens candidate for the electorate of
Goldstein at the
2019 Australian federal election. In 2020, Pennicuik ran in the
2020 local government elections for the
City of Glen Eira in
Rosstown Ward. Following the resignation of councillor Neil Pilling in 2021, Pennicuik was elected to Glen Eira City Council following a
countback of votes on 27 April 2022. ==References==