The Australian Greens are on the verge of a major breakthrough at the October 9 election. Green Left Weekly's Alex Bainbridge spoke with Greens leader Bob Brown about why this is the case and what it means for Australian politics.
Brown told GLW that the main feature of contemporary Australian politics is that there has been a big shift to the right. "PM John Howard has been the main one responsible for this move but Labor is moving with him."
"Pauline Hanson says her policies have been adopted by John Howard, and she's right. Now it is only the extreme right, religious parties that are further to the right."
Brown believes that two questions will be determined by the coming election. The first question is whether an "emboldened" Coalition government will be returned for a fourth term or will there be a change of government. The second question is can the progressive crossbench in the Senate be maintained (which can only come from increased representation by the Greens, according to Brown) or will "John Howard get control of the Senate with support from the religious right".
"The real bombshell is the emergence of Family First and the religious right as allies of John Howard. He has had them in his office planning tactics. His aim is to win control of the Senate with one or two Family First or other right-wing candidates."
"If Howard does get in, we'll see industrial relations legislation that will make Peter Reith look moderate", said Brown, "and we'll see a total new orientation to big business."
There's potential for "new draconian attacks on civil liberties with Philip Ruddock as architect" and we'll see more discrimination "like the ban on same-sex couples marrying" but carried out on a wider scale.
Brown urged a number one vote for the Greens. Referring to Labor, the Coalition and the Democrats, he told GLW that if people voted for any of the establishment parties, their votes could help to elect the religious right. "Only three or four parties — including the Socialist Alliance — have not fallen for the trap of giving preferences to Family First."
"In several states, the last Senate seat is not safe so votes for these parties [ALP, Coalition, Democrats] could help elect the religious right."
When asked why the Greens are likely to do well Brown said "our parliamentary action has given confidence to thinking voters that the Greens will stand on issues where Labor falls".
"There have been several examples this year, such as the ban on marriage for same-sex couples, tax cuts for the rich, the hike in fees for prescription medicines and the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement. Who would have predicted that Labor would support Howard on all of them?"
With the Greens polling strongly, it is possible that they will win balance of power at this election — if neither major party wins enough senators to pass legislation through the Senate without support from a third party, and the Greens win enough senators to be the third party.
Brown believes there is a real danger that the Coalition could win control of the Senate. He doesn't think that the Greens are likely to hold the balance of power from this election. "At the next election, there is a bigger chance", he said.
If the Greens did win the balance of power at this election — which they'd likely share with the Democrats in any case — Brown said the Greens would be cautious about making formal arrangements with Labor or the Coalition.
If Labor formed a minority government, they'd have the choice of looking to the independents on the right or the Greens on the left, he said. "We would talk it out and take our time" before going into any arrangement.
"The Labor Party has become very conservative", Brown said. "We hear the mantra of people climbing the 'ladder of opportunity'. But what about those walking underneath the ladder. Labor isn't talking about them."
How does Brown respond to the accusation of being a "watermelon" (green on the outside but red on the inside)?
Brown told me that the Greens "are a social democratic party in the old sense of that word", that is, before the erosion of the welfare state. He pointed to the example of some northern European social democratic parties where governments maintained some form of "commitment to the people".
"The old shibboleth of people being forced off the land [such as under Stalin] has passed into history. What hasn't passed into history is the idea that the government should look after health care, education and welfare of the people as well as the freedom to move of every citizen."
"Social justice is an absolute pillar of the Greens. I'm quite happy to be called a 'watermelon' if it means our policies are seen as delivering social justice."
As an example, Brown pointed to the situation of East Timor and the "astounding theft" of East Timor's oil revenue. "This is just a cameo of the greed mentality. The Greens are saying give those royalties to the East Timorese who own them so that they can build hospitals so that infants don't die."
"If this means I get called a watermelon, well I'm proud to be a watermelon!"
"And as I said at the Greens' launch [in Brisbane] today, we're in favour of growing more watermelons."
I asked Brown if it was possible to have a Green society without replacing the capitalist system. "In that sense, I am not a socialist. But I do believe that democracy should be free of the shackles of the corporate sector.
"We should ban political donations from the big corporations. The other pillar for the Greens, beside social justice, is democracy."
However Brown believes that corporations have too much political influence. Consequently, democracy "is lame at the moment". Brown pointed to the example of US corporation Halliburton — "a corporate hyena".
However, Brown rejects "imposing some form of centralised government as in the first half of last century, with all the consequences of that."
"I'm not a Maoist, I'm not a Stalinist and I'm not a person who says we will have progress under force." Instead, Brown favours creating a "global democracy" including a "much greater strengthening of the UN". "It is a real question", Brown said. "How do you get people past their fears to support such a system [as global democracy]."
As an obstacle to overcome, Brown pointed to the Murdoch media flagrantly misrepresenting Green policies. "It's part of a plan to destroy the Greens through the tabloids."
"We're supposed to be a democracy", Brown said. "I thought this sort of false vilification only happened in a police state."
From Green Left Weekly, October 6, 2004.
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