Selling out, cardboard cut-outs

Well it looks like I have a bit of time on my hands today so i thought I might make a post or two extra.

I was reading the SMH and couldn't help but have a giggle at this article. It reports how Bob Brown and the Greens have (deservedly) attacked Peter Garrett for the issues I raised in an earlier post. To quote a Greens source in the article:

Will Peter Garrett be to the Australian Conservation Foundation what Philip Ruddock is to Amnesty International?

Good question. Oh and the article points out one of the key issues that I raised in an earlier post: why is Garrett spending more time attacking the environment movement than on the Libs? I can answer that: Peter has sold out and is being used as a cardboard cut-out to be rolled out whenever the Greens are threatening Labor.

Is Peter Garrett so arrogant to believe that he and only he can reform the Labor party, gain power, become leader, create positive environment policies and save the planet? He must believe this himself if he is willing to burn bridges with those who work with him and have the same environmental and social goals.

I look forward to the time when Garrett is caught in the ultimate bind, first when Labor abandons its three mine policy, and then when Labor will accept nuclear power in this country as i suspect they will in the future.

Your Rights at Work

My last post before I go on holiday to Hawks Nest for a week with my partner and friends. I hope to post with a couple of pictures. But before then I wanted to post one more time and I could not let the day go by without mentioning the unions campaign rally today around the country.

The Your Rights at Work campaign started a long time ago and I feel had an enormous impact electorally for Labor. However, the intense campaign that happened in 2005 has died down somewhat, inevitably i guess, but I think (or hope) today's rally around the county is the start of an intense campaign leading up to the next election.

This is important because lets remind ourselves of what Howard's legislation has done to our working rights:
- You could be sacked with no right to challenge it
- Your right to redundancy pay could be removed
- Minimum rights outlined in awards will be reduced
- Your boss can demand you sign an individual contract
(Australian Workplace Agreement.)
- You may be ‘locked out’ indefinitely if you don’t
- Your only option if sacked may be expensive court
proceedings
- It may become illegal to tell anyone what is in your AWA
- It will become harder to gain fair minimum wage outcomes
- Your right to meet with union representatives will be
further limited
- It will be even harder to take industrial action to protect your
wages and conditions

Worth fighting against? Two things you can do. First, join your union. I am applying to the teachers federation as we speak. Second, participate in the Your Rights at Work campaign.

Tidbits

Sigh. Another leadership challenge in the brewing for the Labor Party. Although I do approve of getting rid of the fool they have and to be replaced by Rudd and Gillard, I don't know if I like the timing. Beazley should never have been put back in.

On another note, Quiggan points out that the Iraq war has produced over 1 million refugees but the US has not relaxed its immigration laws and has only allowed 202 Iraqi refugees into the US. I would like to know the statistics for Australia. I will endeavour to find out.

Yet another aside, today's SMH has a good piece from Gittins (as always) lambasting the Government on not attacking poverty. Whats even more interesting is that the Brotherhood of StLawrence, one of the organisations Gittens takes a swipe at, has a story in the same edition states that giving 15-20 year olds the dole 'sends all the wrong signals'.

Nuclear politics

A fantastic post from Oz Politics on the Greens and Howard's politics on the nuclear debate. It certainly smells of Howard style of tactics doesn't it? My feeling is that the Green vote will only incrementally increase over the next decade. After that, I think it will depend on the weather.

I might have to do a thorough post on this nuclear topic one day.

Victorian Results

Congratulations to the Victorian Greens who have campaigned well and have come up trumps with 9.7% of the vote, 2 seats in the Legislative Assembly, and only just missing out in three other LA seats and one lower house seats. Some may be disappointed that we didnt get those seats but i am not. The Greens winning the balance of power is the equivalent of a major party winning government. It takes a long time and will be determined by many events out of our control.

However, of course there are commentators in the media who will do what they can to show that the Greens did poorly. For example, Koutsoukis in the Age had this pile of dung:

"But there was one big loser in the federal arena last night and that was Greens leader Senator Bob Brown, whose overblown rhetoric about the Greens stealing a clutch of seats came to little. The Greens' vote went backwards yesterday - a major embarrassment for Brown, who put his heart and soul into the Greens campaign.

The real question now is just how influential will the Greens be in next year's federal election?

They were a flop in 2004, they were a flop yesterday and all indications are that the Greens will flop again at the 2006 federal election."

I don't know where these idiot journalists get there credentials from because they can't help but be so biased. These journalists seem to think that if a minor party doesnt win government it must be a disaster for the party. In 2004 almost 1 million people voted for the Greens, which is more than the Nationals and a positive swing of 2%. How is that a flop Koutsoukis? Ignore those in the media who serve their political masters.

It is pretty clear that Brown says these things to get media attention. How effective this is I will leave to others to decide. Additionally, polling for the Greens vote is sketchy at best. It is the polling data that builds up the perception of Greens power and not just Brown.

I will be calling it a disaster for the greens when we are in aposition similar to the Democrats. As long as we are still winning seats and just missing out on others, the Greens will always be a force to contend with.

Victorian State Election

Saturday is the Victorian State Election and the Greens have a wonderful opportunity to snap up some seats, some for the first time. As always, the ABC through Antony Green has a good summary of the election.

In the State's upper house, the system has changed and the boundaries have been redistributed. At first thought, the Vic greens must have been thinking that they could get three seats. However, it seems that the Liberals have refused to put the Greens ahead of Labor. This makes the Greens job that little bit harder. This beautifully explained by the Pollbludger.

The more interesting part of the election is the seat of Melbourne where the sitting labor Health Minister Bronwyn Pike is now likely to lose her seat to the Greens DiNatale (pictured). The Greens barely lost in that seat last time but i am willing to bet that the Greens will win this time.

Yet 'controversy' has stalked the Greens in that seat because it seems that the Greens are going to do a split ticket for their how-to-vote cards. Labor has twisted this around into a 'Greens preference Liberals' story. I hate to resort to name calling but Labor is lame if thats all they can resort to.

The Melbourne election brings up a couple of issues. First, The split ticket issue is always an interesting debate in the Greens. It is always brought up in campaign meeting when preferences are being decided. I have yet to be convinced by it. Although i am also of the opinion that how-to-vote cards should be banned and that a copy be stuck up in each polling booth. Its all about saving paper or recycled paper as it is in the case of Greens how-to-votes.


Second, peter Garrett came out to Melbourne to help campaign for Labor and confirm Labor's position that they believe the Greens are preferencing the Liberals. Well Garrett continues to be used in my opinion. He is rolled out whenever necessary to show Labor's tokenistic environmental credentials. Labor is lame. I feel sorry for him in a way because i doubted that he envisioned himself being used to be constantly fighting the Greens and not the Liberals. Garrett you have become a cardboard cut out.

Good luck to all my fellow Greens in Victoria.

Global warming

Hi everyone. Been occupied with other parts of my life (teaching) and decided to take a break until now.

So where do i begin? With election polling of course and where the Greens are positioned for forthcoming state and federal elections for 2007.



The above post is from oz politics who always goves nice summaries of polling data. For more information on polling data go to any of the links to my right. What can we decipher from all of these squiggly lines? We can confidently say that as of late last year Labor has been in a commanding position in the polls, buoyed by excellent campaigning by the union movement against Howard's unfair workplace relations legislation. However, the latest polling data for November suggests Labor is slipping away its lead. I believe this trend will continue unless labor can pull a rabbit out of a hat. There is only one reason for this trend: Beazley. Latham called him one of the worst leaders in history. Come next election Beazley will be considered THE worst leader in Austrlian political history.



On a brighter side of things, Labor's poor performance in the latest polling data seems to have not gone to the Liberals but gone to the Greens. Newspoll tends to be the pessimistic polling data and it is even showing a sudden upsurge in Green support. Indeed, I heard that in one polling question the Greens are the most trusted to manage climate change (i heard the stats were like 24% Green, 23% Lib and 19% Lab. if anyone can confirm this, that would be great). Why such a sudden upsurge? Well obviously because climate change has been THE issue of the past month.



Poor Labor. Their factionalism has produced Anthony Albanese as Shadow Environment Minister. To be honest, he's not a bad bloke: he speaks well and he has reasonably good left politics. However, he is politically unpallatable to the electorate and looks like nerd who wants to be a bully boy. Good luck Labor!