Bell sues Greens

By Rohan Gaiswinkler HOBART — The feud between the Australian Democrats and the Greens turned into an all-in brawl just days before the federal election, with Democrat Senator Robert Bell suing the Greens' Senate team for defamation. The action was over what Bell described as the Greens' evil oral and written campaign against him over southern forestry issues. Greens' leader Dr Bob Brown had earlier accused the Democrats of weakening on a number of issues; Brown described the choice for Tasmanians as between middle-ground Democrats and innovative Greens. The Democrats here have come under plenty of fire, and not just from the Greens, over their decision to direct Senate preferences to the right-wing, Christian fundamentalist Call to Australia Party. CTA (led by Fred Nile) is renowned for its anti-feminist, anti-environment, anti-abortion and anti-gay politics. Their nickname to many is the "Compulsory Testing for AIDS Party". The Greens and the Australian Women's Party both condemned the Democrats, who have also put the AWP last in their preferences.