Powell calls for broader coalition
By Pip Hinman
MELBOURNE — Independent Senator Janet Powell and Di Quin, Democratic Socialist candidate for Melbourne, put the case for progressive politics at a meeting of 60 people organised by the Melbourne University Students Association and Resistance on March 4.
In her address, Powell said that she was pleased with the coalition building that had been initiated in the lead-up to the elections (Powell has teamed up with Rainbow Alliance who are running with her in the Senate and in two lower house seats). But, she said, cooperation among progressives had not gone far enough and she wanted to see the Democratic Socialists and other progressives involved in any new coalitions as well.
On the many green candidates standing, Powell responded that this was an "exciting", not confusing, prospect. The fact that the Independent Network, Rainbow Alliance, Green Alliance, the National Greens and others are all standing on green platforms reflects the healthy diversity of progressive politics as distinct from the two-party system. If that means that individuals have to take the time to find out who's who and what they stand for, then that's a good thing, Powell said.
Quin argued that progressives had to concentrate on points of similarity just as the politically diverse forces which make up the NZ Alliance are currently doing.