fuzion

An earlier posting commented on the importance of preferencing for the Greens in the upcoming Aus election. In this article by Bob Brown, Aus Greens leader, he talks about the reverse situation - which of the major parties the Greens will recommend to green voters to preference.

Bob makes the position quite clear - voters have barely any choice between Rudd and Howard; over the handling of the Haneef case, over the declaration of marshal law in indigenous communities, the continued growth of coalmining and exports, even the extension of logging and burning of Tasmania’s grand forests.

Here is the Australian Greens’ dilemma: the choice between Labor and the Coalition is becoming more like choosing between fawn and beige.A change of government will be good for Australia, but Rudd is making it harder to recommend Greens voters preference Labor.

So in the case of the marginal Tasmanian seats of Bass and Braddon the Greens are set to issue open tickets, leaving voters to choose for themselves between Labor and the Coalition.

Brown then articulates what the Greens have to offer the voters; the Greens would increasing the pension by $60 a fortnight rather than $10billion in tax cuts for the rich, investment in schools in need rather than more public money on wealthy private schools, better and cheaper public transport rather than more road building, and investment in clean, renewable energy instead of expanding uranium mining.

So a strong vote for the Greens could give them the balance of power in the Senate, at which point the scaremongering will begin in earnest. But as Brown explains,

the Greens have a history of using the balance of power wisely at state and federal levels. The Tasmanian Greens have worked constructively with Labor and Liberal governments. For example, faced with Tasmanian Liberal premier Robin Gray’s $100million budget deficit in 1989-92, we backed tough Labor budgets, which set a strong foundation for Tasmania’s fiscal health in 2007.

The Coalition often claims that if anyone else is in power, the economy will grind to a halt. However, the West Australian economy has been growing faster than that of any other state, and the Greens have held the balance of power in Western Australia’s upper house since 2001. The Greens also hold or share the balance of power in the upper house in South Australia, Victoria and NSW.

politics