If you pay any attention to recent opinion polls, you might’ve noticed a trend. Thousands of disillusioned Australian voters are ditching their traditional support for right-wing parties like the Nationals and for the two-party Liberal versus Labor system, seeing The Australian Greens pick up considerable support.
The Australian Greens – what are they all about? What does the party stand for? It’s a party and a set of principles and policies that are sadly largely kept out of mainstream discussion. Lennox Head resident and Ballina Shire Greens councillor Jeff Johnson explains:
“The mainstream media perpetuate this myth that you have to vote for one major party or the other – Liberal or Labor. That’s not how our preferential voting system works and it's really important to dispel this myth.”
Jeff believes the voting public, many of whom are becoming increasingly aware of how obsessed the major parties are with power, re-election and short-term gain rather than making decisions in the national interest, needn’t feel they have to vote for one or the other. “People need to understand that a Vote One for the Greens will most likely go to the second preference, but at the same time sending a powerful message to the major parties that they should pay more attention to the Greens policies, particularly on sustainability, climate change and donations reform.”
A Bachelor of Business Administration graduate with experience in management and small business, and an elected Councillor with Ballina Shire Council, Jeff recently won the pre-selection ballot to represent the Greens as candidate in the seat of Page at the Federal Election. He and his fellow candidates are now counting down the days to get the message out to the electorate about what the Greens have to offer.
Jeff is running for the seat of Page because he wants to see progress on environmental and social issues. He wants to contribute to the Greens pledge for progressive policies and a clear, fair and equitable vision for Australia’s future. “I enjoy being a part of the debate and have faith in our political system, but if you want to create change, you have to be involved in the process. Ultimately, it’s the politicians who write the laws of the land.”
However unlike the two major parties, which so often write the laws of the land under the influence of their big business donors, the Greens don’t accept political donations from, as stated on their website, ‘unethical big businesses’. “We are loyal to, and act in the interests of, the community… we stand for grassroots democracy – giving people, voters, a greater say in the decision-making process,” Jeff said.
Jeff believes the main parties have lost much of the electorate's trust and are fighting hard to re-gain it. “You can’t trust a party that accepts political donations from big business… this is not in the spirit of true democracy; it’s buying influence… it’s systemized corruption. This is what happens in the big parties and more people who aren’t aware of this, need to be.”
“Just because the Greens don’t accept donations from developers, doesn’t mean the Greens are anti-development,” Jeff said. “We’re just anti-inappropriate development.”
Like many Greens candidates, Jeff’s big priorities for the Page electorate - which takes in the northern NSW centres of Lismore, Ballina, Casino, Kyogle, Evans Head and Grafton and many small villages in between - are investment in renewable energy, local food production and distribution and low emissions transport. “If we can master these three areas, we can become a sustainable region – a self-sustaining set of communities – and I believe if we can’t do that here on the north coast, it can’t be done anywhere.”
As far as energy-generation is concerned, Jeff says that Australia is a fortunate country: “we’re the world’s quarry, but that doesn’t mean we should base our whole economy on non-renewable resources. We need to invest more in green energy; to re-direct some of the revenue raised by the new mining tax into renewable energy, energy efficiency and rail infrastructure for freight.”
So much of the coverage in the mainstream media focuses on the two-and-fro debate between the Liberals and Labor on the economic management. Very few people are aware of what the Greens economic policies are all about. “We’re about a strong, green economy, built around the workers which drive it, with fair conditions and meaningful jobs that are investing in our future… jobs associated with renewable energy and low emissions technologies.”
Jeff argues that the two major parties talk up their economic credentials, but really they are biased towards big business - a classic case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. “The reality is, under Liberal and Labor in recent years, electricity has doubled, public transport services are in decline, the price of fuel has doubled, and the price of food has skyrocketed. [The big parties] are about short-term book balancing, not long term investment and all the while, their policies are destroying ecosystems and the future’s going to have to pay for them.”
So what is a vote for the Australian Greens? It’s a vote for greener and more sustainable local pastures. It’s a vote for the Greens values of ecological sustainability, social and economic justice, grassroots democracy and it’s a vote against violence. It’s a vote for many of the green issues of interest and close at heart to many of us.
“The Greens have Australia’s national interest at heart. We’re not just about short-term economics or short-term solutions; we’re about planning for quality of life now and into the future, and that includes investing in renewable energy. If we continue on this path with this reliance on coal-fired power stations, the price of electricity and the price of living is only going to rise. We’re about getting a better deal for the community and for Australia’s future.”
Want to know more?
If you are interested in finding out more about the Australian Greens and their policies visit The Greens official website.
To learn more about Jeff Johnson’s plans to make the transition to an environmentally and economically sustainable future in the Page electorate, visit The Greens Candidate for Page webpage.
If you are interested in finding out more about political donations, the NSW Greens have an interesting website, that includes a section that allows you to search the political donations: www.democracy4sale.org
Written by Philippa Swift
For more information about this topic, see the energy section of our directory.
Image Credits:
Top – Parliament House by Feral Arts via Flickr Creative Commons
Below – Jeff Johnson and NSW Greens MP Lee Rhiannon at Jeff’s campaign launch in Lismore by Philippa Swift
[Disclaimer: Green Times is an apolitical publication, we do not necessarily endorse the views expressed here – though we do strongly recommend educating yourself on the policies of all political parties so that you can make an informed choice when voting.]
