My latest post for Th!nk4: Climate Change:
As my early post Australia Revisits Carbon Tax indicated, green politics have become the flavour of the year in Australia. With a State election in Victoria due on 27 November, environmental politics have taken on an engrossing importance.
Swings away from the ruling Australian Labor Party are now the order of the day. Tasmania has a minority Labor government backed by the Greens who have two Cabinet ministers. (I’m tickled by the fact that the Greens leader Nick McKim is Attorney General, making him the Minister for prisons amongst other things).
Opinion polls in Victoria show a large swing with the Greens on 16-19% this week. They received 10% at the election 4 years ago. This time they may win Assembly seats and hold the balance of power. Just as interesting is their current politicking:
Federal Greens leader Bob Brown has left open the possibility of his party entering into a power-sharing alliance with the Victorian Coalition if the election produces a hung parliament.Long gone are the days when The Greens were seen as idealistic purists.
He said in Melbourne yesterday that the Greens had every right to negotiate with either side of politics if it meant getting a better deal for their supporters.
Greens put heat on ALP
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