Mel D’Arth is an entrepreneur, small business owner and current Councillor in Margaret River with a lifelong passion for community, sustainability and social justice. Born and based in regional WA, Mel has spent decades working at the grassroots to support local communities and protect the environment.
Mel brings deep experience in community service, including three years as President of the local Chamber of Commerce. She’s a proud small business advocate and founder of several ventures that blend ethics with enterprise—including a unique shoe label made from hemp and recycled car tyres, and a thriving artisan collective that helps local makers scale their craft into a livelihood.
A strong voice for rural Australia, Mel has been championing the industrial hemp industry for over a decade, incorporating hemp into her businesses to promote zero waste, local jobs and a cleaner future. She lives and breathes the belief that hemp can support both the planet and the economy.
Mel’s activism runs deep—from youth services and housing advocacy to her early work with the Wilderness Society and a long-standing push to decriminalise cannabis in WA. She was a passionate supporter of cannabis reform when decriminalisation first passed, and she’s been vocal ever since about the need to restore and expand those rights.
In 2005, Mel travelled the country in her beloved 1973 Kombi van—stopping in at Nimbin MardiGrass and connecting with cannabis culture across the nation. She’s continued that journey ever since: advocating, organising and living her values.
Melissa is deeply committed to fairness, freedom and sustainability. She believes we all deserve the right to choose health, happiness and the path that’s right for us. For Mel, it’s simple: Cannabis for health, hemp for wealth—life’s too short for anything less.
