It is very possible I’ll be voting Greens too come the election.

Firstly, on the ETS: We’re going to hear a lot from the ALP about how the Greens “let the perfect be the enemy of the good” and didn’t support their CPRS. Here’s what I’ve learned.

Firstly, the Government wouldn’t negotiate with the Greens or consider any of their amendments to the legislation as presented. Instead, they took their already woefully inadequate policy to the climate-skeptics party, watered it down over months of negotiations, and then failed to get it passed even with the Liberal senators crossing the floor. At the end of this process, the policy was simply too inadequate for the Greens to support.

The second issue is the “get something in now, then improve it later”. Legal advice rendered to the Greens says that if the scheme was passed, the carbon credits granted to the polluters would become their property, legally speaking, and under the constitution these permits could not be taken away without compensation running into the billions. Richard Di Natale talks about this line of attack here: http://richarddinatale.com.au/node/27

In the meantime, the Greens have been proactive and constructive by presenting an interim carbon tax proposal which has been ignored by the Government. And really, it’s hard to imagine the labor scheme reducing our carbon emissions at all, let alone drastically as we need to do.

As for a Green negotiation/policy success, take the stimulus bill as an example. The Greens negotiated in good faith with the government, and won some amendments which were both environmentally sound and job-rich such as the local greens job package.

See: http://scott-ludlam.greensmps.org.au/content/greens-negotiate-economic-stimulus-package

Finally, as to the single Greens MP-to-be (I hope) in the lower house. It’s one thing to pressure the ALP into supporting progressive legislation when they start facing a Greens Senator from most states in the upper house. Imagine the pressure when the MPs themselves start to be in danger of losing their own seats! When a respected, sitting cabinet minister is ousted from his own seat, you can bet they will sit up and take notice. Of course, the end game is to achieve a substantial say in Parliament and play a role in government, but the process of getting there will hopefully exert some pressure on the ALP to bring them back left.

In fact, if Tanner falls, I’m sure it will. So, despite the fact that I like and respect Tanner, I’ll be handing out how to votes for Adam Bandt.

They had the chance to pass an ETS when two Liberal Senators cross the floor to vote with the government but didn’t. Surely the Greens know they’d never have gotten a ETS with as strong targets as they wanted. Better to get one in and then work on improving it. Better to get one in and then give the Federal Government something to point at when negotiating with the rest of the world “Look, we’ve done our bit, and we’ll do more if you come on board”. In case the Greens haven’t noticed or don’t understand the reality, Australia will not be able to solve global warming alone.
Instead, we’ve got nothing and we’ll get nothing for years to come. Instead, the Federal Government has nothing when negotiation – the whole world is now saying “You go first”. Hardly a policy success on the Greens part or a win for the environment.

I could go on about immigration and how many times they’ve change (admittedly, they’ve returned to the policy I support – a population target close to or smaller than our current population) but the comment gets too long.

What is the point of high principles and feeling righteous when nothing gets done? Sure, current Labor is a let down but they are the ONLY party that will get things done.

Can you point to an actual Green policy success? A successful negotiation? I’m not being a troll here, I’m genuinely interested in what you qualify as a Green party success. Is the end game to win or pressure Labor in the lower house to force a coalition? After all, ONE seat in the lower house?

I’m a swinger voter, and I’m ready to swing out far left – but only if there is a point in doing so.

The “Manhattan Project” sort of renewable energy project you mentioned is exactly the sort of thing we need, and the sort of brave vision that I don’t think we will get.

These are personal musings only and not an official Pirate Party policy.

Regards,

David