By Bernie Brian
DARWIN — Ilana Eldridge, Greens candidate for the seat of Milner in the forthcoming Northern Territory elections, describes herself as an "activist and humanitarian." She also feels she has a good chance of unseating the Australian Labor Party's Ken Parish. With each electoral district comprising only 3400 voters, this is not an unreasonable hope.
Eldridge is not new to green politics. She was involved in an attempt in the late '80s to establish a Green party in the Northern Territory. In 1989 she received an encouraging vote as a green independent for the Senate.
Despite southern misconceptions, being green in Darwin does not mean you are marginalised. Green candidates in the past have received over 20% of the vote in some seats. In 1989, Eldridge was particularly surprised at attracting a large vote from the Defence staff at Tindal RAAF base. The local Northern Territory Environment Centre has more members per capita than any similar centre nationwide. Sales of Green Left are also high.
Eldridge believes this support for green issues is due to the obvious importance of the environment here. "It's such a concrete part of everyday life, and people are proud to live here."
The Northern Territory Greens were formed in late 1993 and since then, according to Eldridge, have gone from "strength to strength — not so much in an organisational or financial way but certainly in terms of a ground swell of support".
The suburban Darwin seat of Milner contains the Bagot and Kululuk Aboriginal communities as well as a sizeable number of young working-class families. There are high unemployment and other social problems like domestic violence.
Having worked for many years in outlying Aboriginal communities, Eldridge feels she will be able to reflect the concerns of the Aboriginal population. "There is a huge level of disillusionment in those communities with both mainstream parties. Some of these communities are already discussing running their own candidates in the next few years. We would like to link up with them and share information and resources."
Already Eldridge has received a good response to her candidacy from Darwin's Aboriginal communities. "I went to a local tavern the other day and received loud cheers from the Aboriginals present. They were particularly happy that we supported their access to traditional hunting areas."
The Greens will be campaigning on both environmental issues and a range of social questions, from the legalisation of marijuana to the poor state of the Northern Territory's health system. "We support community based and controlled health care for Aboriginal people, more facilities for youth and the construction of an Aboriginal cultural centre in the Milner electorate."
The Greens are opposed to uranium mining and will campaign to stop Australia supporting the construction of nuclear reactors in South-East Asia.
They are against the air force exercises over Darwin and the noise generated by them. This has given encouragement to the local residents, who have been campaigning on the issue for a long time. Both major parties are committed to the development of Darwin into a major military base by the turn of the century.
Eldridge rejects the argument that her candidacy will jeopardise the changes of Labor defeating the Country-Liberal Party. "In Milner it will be either myself or Ken Parish who wins. I'm not an ALP apologist; I'm disgusted with both parties equally. I don't subscribe to the view that they are any better than each other. I don't think I will be sleeping any better at night if Labor is in government.
"We are keen to build alliances with Aboriginal and any other community-based groups that are willing to link up with us. I feel it's more important to nurture links between us rather than fight over technicalities. Our job is too important for that."
To get involved with the Greens, ring (089 )817 591.