Is Green Power on the way in Australia?

[Matilda]

By that I mean the party. In Victoria, the Greens could possibly pick up a seat in the Lower House
next Saturday, and hold the balance of power in the Senate, thanks to preference deals with the
Liberals. I wish they didn't have to do deals with the Libs, but in the end, what does it matter
if it helps to break the monopoly of the two main parties?

http://www.theage.com.au/news/vicelection06news/brown-hits-back-over-greens-lib-deals/2006/11/20/1163871341170.html

http://www.theage.com.au/news/victoria-votes/greens-poised-to-topple-pike-in-melbourne/2006/11/19/1163871273007.html


And in NSW, the Greens numbers are slowly picking up - it seems that the major parties still don't
realise that people are becoming very concerned about climate change and want to see real policies,
not window dressing.

The NSW election is still months away, but what a dreadful choice we have - Labor doesn't deserve to
be re-elected, but Debnam is on the nose with voters, and he hasn't even told us his policies yet
(apart from immediately arresting 200 Lebanese Muslims and throwing them in jail). He's such an
idiot he makes Iemma look quite brilliant by comparison, something I wouldn't have believed
possible. I wonder if the Libs have any regrets about what they did to John Brogden, who could have
won for them?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200611/s1793541.htm


I still believe that climate change could be Howard's Achilles Heel. I hope he doesn't change; it
will make his defeat more certain.

[gemini_liberal]

1. The Greens are certainly picking up steam...

I believe part of their success boils down to the fall of the Democrats. A lot of left-progressive voters who can't stand either party need someone to represent them. Of course, they'll never be a majority party, but it'd be nice to fantasize of the Greens not just holding the balance of power in the upper houses, but in the lower houses too. (ie. forcing a major party to form coalition.)

The good news (and bad news too) is that Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja is not standing for re-election to the Senate. She had many voters (myself included) who had progressive views. Hopefully enough of those votes go to electing a South Australian Green senator...

[Matilda]

2. Well, the Victorian elections seemed to knock our hopes on the head.

The Libs have only picked up one of Labor's lost seats at this point, but the big shock is that
the Nationals have gained six. And Families First polled better overall than the Greens - I'm not
generally in the habit of hating political oponents, but I make an exception for that lot - self-
righteous, sanctimonious hypocrites in my book. I hoped that what we saw Federally at the last
election was a glitch that would quickly pass as Australians came to their senses, but it doesn't
look like it.

[Esra Star]

3. The Greens have a lot of latent support

As voters become more educated and understand how our system works,
more people will give their primary vote to them.
Too many people still think elections are binary.
Of course it suits the big machines that this remains the status quo.
Civilisation is such a long slow process.

[Matilda]

4. I certainly hope that as awareness of climate change sinks in

support for the Greens will grow, as they are the only party that really has a clue.

I thought it would be reflected at the Victorian elections, and so did most of the pundits, so it
was quite a shock that overall they didn't poll very high, although they gained enough support in
a number of places to push Labor over the line via their preferences.

[gemini_liberal]

5. It should be noted

that the Greens often get higher primary votes than FF, and that when FF make quotas to get into parliament, it's usually riding on the preferences of weaker parties, and the leftovers of large parties. It's important for the Greens not just to demonstrate their worthiness as a first choice, but also as a second or third choice (and certainly higher than FF)

[Djinn]

6. The Greens did not do any deals with the Libs

The ALP was very active in spreading that lie but it was total pish.

The Greens (unlike the major parties) do not impose candidates on local branches. Candidates and preferences are ALWAYS decided at a local level. Even if the Vic Greens state Exec wanted to do a deal with the Liberals, our constitution would not allow it.

In a small minority of seats (22 from memory out of over 80) the local branch ran a SPLIT ticket, ie NOT directing preferences to EITHER ALP/Lib instead allowing voters to make up their own mind. The vast majority of SPLIT ticket seats were already safe Lib/Nat seats in which people giving a protest vote to the Greens had no intention of ever giving their second preference to the ALP regardless of what Greens HTV cards told them.