By G”sta Lyng†

CANBERRA -- Our world is in crisis. The world's resources are mined in an unsustainable way, more and more of arable land is becoming unproductive, the climate of the earth is under threat and the distance between rich and poor is increasing inside each country and between countries.

The ACT Greens were formed in October 1992 to tackle these issues at the local level. Only six months later, they won 6.1% of the primary votes in their bid for one of the two ACT places in the Senate.

Now, the party is challenging Labor and Liberals in the ACT Assembly. Under the slogan “Lasting solutions”, we aim to turn bad environmental policies into good ones and to fight for social equity.

In the central seat of Molonglo, Kerrie Tucker has a good chance of being elected. She has been working in the environment movement for many years. Kerrie's main point is that we must work with local issues in a global perspective. We will challenge underlying assumptions such as the present economic accounting system, which does not consider environmental or social values.

In the northern seat of Ginninderra, the lead candidate in Ginninderra is Lucy Horodny, an experienced campaigner from the Wilderness Society.

With Lucy I discussed the changes in Canberra since she grew up. The small-community feeling with local shops has given way to a much more impersonal Canberra, where roads and cars divide people. She will work towards implementing the idea of urban villages where people will again walk between homes, shops and bus stops.

The lead candidate in the seat of Brindabella is Andrew Parratt, who has been a research scientist and geriatric nurse and is now finishing a law degree. On education, he points out that the Greens treat education on a holistic basis. If you teach the child rather than the course, the knowledge will come naturally. It is important that children are given a broad view of learning, not just be trained for a specific job.

The ACT Greens will also stand a candidate in the federal by-election for the seat of Canberra, vacated by Ros Kelly.

If you want to help the ACT Greens on February 18, call us on (06) 247 6305.
[G”sta Lyng† represented the Greens in the Swedish parliament for three years.]

This article was posted on the Green Left Weekly Home Page.
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