Australian Greens

The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is the national Green Party in Australia. It has its origin in a protest movement against a planned dam on the Franklin River in Tasmania in the 1980s. But their political issues extend beyond today about environmental problems on the peace movement, grassroots democracy ( "Grass Roots Democracy" ) and social justice.

  • 4.1 Labor Party and trade unions
  • 4.2 Conservative groups
  • 4.3 Rivalry with the Democrats
  • 7.1 Outline of the Greens Party
  • 7.2 senators of the Greens
  • 7.3 Other links

Political Ideology

The Greens today call themselves a party of the "new politics". Lance Armstrong, a former member of the Tasmanian House of Representatives for the Tasmanian Green Party, described its position as " ... neither left nor right, but progressive". Members of other parties designate the Australian green policies consistently as " radical." The prevailing opinion, the Greens are placed in the left political spectrum.

In the Charter of the Australian Greens are " four pillars" listed as the basis of their policy: social justice, sustainability, grassroots democracy ( " Grass Roots Democracy" ) as well as peace and non-violence. In pursuing these basic principles, the Greens have also other ( often controversial ) assumed positions: ( legalization of ) euthanasia, corporate taxation and de- criminalization or legalization of drugs.

The rising number of votes for the Green Party has given them increased attention of the other parties and the media. Despite the rather left-wing politics, the Greens have in many believe to be conservative constituencies (for example, Kooyong / Victoria or the home constituency of Prime Minister John Howard Bennelong / New South Wales ) and can recorded a high proportion of votes in progressive like Sydney and Melbourne.

The Greens are different from the other major parties in a number of the public often discussed positions, for example when dealing with asylum seekers. This makes them their reputation as a "one - issue party " got rid of.

Structure

The Australia Greens, like all Australian parties established federalist. That there are in every state independent Green parties which then in a nationwide green " umbrella organization ", the Australian Greens, are connected together. This is then also responsible for the joint program. The highest decision-making level is the National Council ( cf. Party Council of Alliance 90/The Greens ). It consists of members of the subordinate ( federal ) Green Parties and decides mostly in the common consensus. Formally, there is no / chairperson / n Nevertheless, there is the Australian Greens Coordinating Group ( AGCOG ), composed of national officials, the National Convenor ( a kind of manager ), the Secretary (a kind of General Secretary), Treasurer ( Treasurer ) as well as party delegates of the states and territories composed. There is also a party spokesman (Public Officer ), a Party Agent and a Registered Officer.

The Greens have nine senators in the Senate, the Australian House of Lords:

  • Senator Bob Brown ( Tasmania ), leader of the Green Party and on issues related to Defence and Finance, Prime Minister and Cabinet and External Relations and Communication
  • Senator Sarah Hanson - Young ( South Australia )
  • Senator Scott Ludlam (Western Australia)
  • Senator Christine Milne ( Tasmania ), responsible for climate change and energy, as well as transport and regional affairs
  • Senator Rachel Siewert (Western Australia), parliamentary Managing Director, responsible for industrial relations, the state welfare system and Aboriginal Affairs
  • Senator Lee Rhiannon (New South Wales)
  • Senator Richard Di Natale (Victoria)
  • Senator Larissa Waters (Queensland )
  • Senator Penny Wright ( South Australia )

This structure has replaced a previous system, after which the officer responsible for the topics speakers are appointed by the National Council.

The National Council has a number of working groups introduced which also directly participate each member. You have an advisory role in the development of political strategy, the party organization or other ordered by the ' National Council tasks.

All decisions and strategies need to be ratified by each of the states parties.

At a party congress on November 12, 2005 in Hobart, the Greens gave their long-held tradition to appoint no official party chairman, and opt for a process in which the parliamentary leader in the Senate (and thus highest- Green ) from the so-called Greens Party Room should be chosen. On 28 November, it became Bob Brown - who was long seen by both party members and by outsiders as de facto party leader - elected without significant resistance.

History

Origins

Election results

1996: 02.4 % 1998: 02.7 % 2001: 04.9 % 2004: 07.7 % 2007: 09,0 % 2010: 13.1%

The green movement evolved from environmental campaigns out in Tasmania. The predecessor of the Tasmanian Greens ( the oldest Green Association in Australia and the world), the United Tasmania Group, was founded in 1972 during the struggle against the construction of dams on the impoundment of Lake Pedder. However, the group could not prevent the building and managed to occupy nor political office. One of those candidates was Bob Brown, at that time doctor in Launceston ( Tasmania ).

In the late 1970s and early 1980s succeeded environmental activists Norm Sanders as part of a campaign against the construction of a dam on the Franklin River for the Australian Democrats collect the Tasmanian Parliament. Brown, then director of the Tasmanian Wilderness Society, stood in the election as an independent candidate on, but did not manage to get elected to parliament it. 1982 Sanders resigned from his position and Brown took his place.

During her visit to Australia in 1984, the West German Green Party politician Petra Kelly urged the various green groups to develop a common national identity. Partly as a result of this call is 50 green activists gathered in December of the same year in Tasmania at a national conference to organize. The Green Party gained its first parliamentary seat as Senator Josephine Vallentine (Western Australia), for the Nuclear Disarmament Party (about " nuclear disarmament Party") was chosen, and later as independent was, the Greens joined.

1992 Green gathered from across the country in Sydney for the Australian Greens to set up. Some V.A. the Western Australian Green Party, retained their separate identity but for a while. Bob Brown stepped down from his 1993 Tasmanian Parliament items and in 1996 with his election as Senator for Tasmania the first elected Australian Greens candidate.

The most successful Green Party at this time was the Western Australian Green Party, at the time still independent. On their Senator Josephine Vallentine 1992 Christabel followed Chamarette, and 1993 was with Dee Margetts another Senator from Western Australia elected. Vallentine (1996) and Camarette (1998) but lost their Senate seats again, and Bob Brown was the only green senator.

Election 2001

On 10 November 2001, the election of all 150 seats in the Australian House of Representatives and 40 of the 76 seats in the Senate was on. She stood under the sign of the terrorist attacks of September 11 and the heated debate about the Norwegian freighter " MS Tampa ," the front of the Christmas Islands ( Australia belonging ) several hundred Indonesian refugees had rescued from drowning. Australia stubbornly refused to accept the refugees and ultimately to Nauru told financial concessions from the Australian side willing to include them.

Senator Brown took a clear position against the highly restrictive refugee and asylum policies of Prime Minister Howard, which, inter alia, to increased support for the Greens led by disaffected Labor voters. This played a crucial role in the perception of the Greens as more than just a "one- issue party ."

The votes for the House of Representatives, the Greens received 569 075 votes (4.3% and 2.4% respectively ), but not enough for a seat. In the Senate election, they received 570 509 votes (4.9 % and 2.2 %), which earned them an additional Senate post.

2002 won the Australian Greens for the first time a seat in the House of Representatives, as Michael Organ won a by-election in Cunningham, New South Wales.

2004 election

In the 2004 elections the Greens received 841 734 votes (7.2% and 2.2% respectively ), which allowed them four senators in the Senate. As the government of John Howard but now also won the majority in the Senate dropped the legislative influence of the Greens. In the House, Michael Organ lost his seat against a Labor candidate.

The Christian- oriented Family First Party turned ahead of the elections as part of a massive media campaign a TV commercial in which the Australian Greens were called " Extreme Greens ". Due to the extremely complicated electoral system, especially for the Senate election where there is a kind of ranking between the parties themselves, the Greens lost some benefits in the calculation of votes and their significance to the Family First Party. Although the Greens therefore received more than four times as many votes took place David Risstrom the Family First candidate Steve Fielding in the Senate. In Tasmania the Greens Christine Milne succeeded only extremely scarce her Senate seat against the Family First candidate to defend even though they received significantly more votes. Only the high incidence of so-called " below-the -line" votes in Tasmania prevented the beneficiary by the ranking votes exchange between the Labor Party and Family First.

The Greens were able to nominate candidates in almost all constituencies of the House and Senate for all positions.

Controversy with the Herald Sun

In August 2004, the Melbourne newspaper The Herald Sun ran the headline in its cover story " Greens back illegal drugs" (eg: "Green advocacy of illegal drugs "). The article received considerable media attention and was opposed groups more widely critical of the Greens. In response to this Article, the party leader Bob Brown complained to the Australian Press Council ( the Australian Press Council ) complaint. This came to the conclusion that the article contained a number of false statements and evaluated him as " irresponsible journalism". An appeal of the Herald Sun has been denied and the newspaper was obliged to publish the decision of the Press Council. Brown said: "This was not an accident or mistake. The goal was to attack the Greens, not by the comment column but by the News page. The result of these inventions on the policies of the Greens was the loss of tens of thousands of votes and, in my calculation, of parliamentary seats. "

Collaboration with other political groups

The Greens have no formal links to other, by the media as "green groups " ( Green groups) referred to, such as the Australian Conservation Foundation, The Wilderness Society and Greenpeace Australia Pacific, all of which do not claim to be environmental groups politically. Nevertheless, a considerable number of Green Party members are also members of one or more of these groups. Ahead of elections, it sometimes comes at a competition with some of these groups, see the green targets preferably in cooperation with the Labor Party or the Liberal Party achieved. Tend to prefer the Greens negotiations with the Labor Party to by the mutual ranking to increase the chance of green Senate candidate and thus to bring green issues such as the destruction of Tasmania's forests on the agenda. Thus, the Labor Party is settled earlier than the Liberal Party in the green rankings, but it did in 2001 and 2004 is not significantly influenced by general intelligence, of the outcome of the elections.

Labor Party and trade unions

Many supporters of the Labor Party and the trade unions see the policies of the Australian Greens as a hindrance to ( the creation of ) jobs in areas such as mining and forestry. Left trade unionists and members of the left "social Left" - wing of the Labor Party sympathize but sometimes more readily with the Greens, especially with their social policy. Some trade unionists of the National Tertiary Education Union ( NTEU ) ( union of university employees ) are even already started for the Green Party in parliamentary elections. A laboratory - deputy, Kris Henna ( Mitchell, South Australia ), entered 2003 on the Australian Greens over - but in 2006.html">February 2006 he stepped out again and stood in elections to the state parliament of South Australia as an independent candidate on.

Nevertheless, the left wing Labor sympathizes not consistently with the Greens. The similarities between the two groups lead to both advertise frequently to the same group of voters. The growing popularity of green makes it a serious threat to the Labour Party. Lindsay Tanner wrote in 2002, a prominent member of the "social Left" - wing, " The emergence of the Greens has already harmed the ability of the Australian Labor Party, new members to attract among young people. " In the 2004 elections threatened Tanners own parliamentary seat in Melbourne, Victoria lost according to the polls to the Greens to go. During the election campaign Tanner called the Green policy as " mad" ( crazy). Ultimately, however, she could defend with comfortable majority located.

Conservative groups

Relations between the Green and Conservative parties are consistently kept to a minimum. By members of the Liberal - National coalition government ( Liberal Party of Australia and National Party of Australia ), the Greens were reviled as " environmental extremists " and even as "fascists " in the 2004 election campaign. The leader of the Christian Democratic Party, Fred Nile, and the former National Party president John Anderson described the Greens as " watermelons ", they are " green on the outside and red on the inside ". Prime Minister and Liberal Party Chairman John Howard said " The Green is not just about the environment. As you have a lot of other very, very mad views what things like drugs and all the other stuff. "

Rivalry with the Democrats

The Australian Greens have much in common politically with the Australian Democrats, partly in environmental and social issues. This fact leads to regular debates on proposals to unite both parties. Nevertheless, the Greens and Democrats have to work together often have different views of economic policy (for example, concerning the VAT of 10 %, which was introduced by the Liberal government with the support of Democrats ) as well as the willingness with which the Democrats with the current government.

The Democrats went long a moderate course between the two major parties while the Greens want less willing to compromise with the major parties to the detriment of their positions. This difference and the fact that both parties woo voters who are looking for an alternative to the Liberal Party and the Labor Party, has led to a rivalry between the two parties. In this context, the decline of the vote is blamed for the Australian Democrats to the growing support for the Australian Greens. Nevertheless, the decline in Democrats is greater than the gain of the Green Party, which is considered as an indication that many former Democratic voters switched to the major parties.

Policy in the states and territories

The Different Australian states and territories have different electoral systems, some of which allow the Greens to be represented in parliament. In New South Wales and Western Australia, the Greens are represented by deputies in the Legislative Council (upper house ), which is elected by proportional representation. The Greens won their first seat upper house with Mark Parnell, 2006 in South Australia. The Greens also have deputies in the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly in Canberra. In Queensland, Victoria and the Northern Territory has the majority vote the Greens do not allow seats to get in the state parliament. From 2006 onwards, however, the Victorian Legislative Council elected by proportional representation and it is expected that the Greens will win seats.

The most important area was Green politics and is Tasmania, which is also the only state in which the House of Commons is elected by proportional representation. Since 1986, the Greens ( the House of Assembly ) represented as in the Tasmanian House of Representatives. In the 1989 election the Greens won 5, 17 Liberal Party and Labor Party 13 seats. In exchange of different political concessions the Greens voted to support the Labor minority government. 1992 ended this support through a dispute over jobs in the forestry sector. The Tasmanian Premier (Prime Minister) Michael Field called out early elections, which won the Liberal Party. Later, Liberal and Labor MPs voted for a reduction of the Parliament from 35 to 25 seats, making it acquire the smaller parties considerably more difficult seats because they now needed more votes for one seat. In the 1998 elections, the Greens won only one seat even though their share of the vote was only slightly decreased, so mainly because of the new electoral system. In the 2002 elections, they showed recovered and won 4 seats. All seats could be defended in the 2006 election, even though they received 1.5% fewer votes and the media speculated considerably in advance about the loss of two seats.

MPs from the Australian Greens

  • Senator Jo Vallentine (1990-1992), for the Greens Western Australia
  • Senator Christabel Chamarette (1992-1996), for the Greens Western Australia
  • Senator Dee Margetts (1993-1999), for the Greens Western Australia
  • Senator Bob Brown (since 1996)
  • Senator Kerry Nettle (since 2001)
  • Senator Christine Milne (since 2004)
  • Senator Rachel Siewert (since 2004)
  • Michael Organ, Member of the House of Representatives (2002-2004)

The senators Vallentine, Chamarette and Margetts were all chosen for the Greens Western Australia before they ' joined the national Australian Greens, which means that they senators were counted at the time not as actual " Green ".

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