Mick Hidden, Cabarita Beach.
Right now, politics seems completely separate to what really matters in our day-to-day lives. But it shouldn’t be this way. All of us should have our voice heard and have the values of our community represented in parliament.
Politics in Australia needs a major shake-up. For too long, our parliament has played out behind closed mahogany doors, shutting out communities and making decisions about people, without those people.
Our democracy should be the best tool we have to care for people, plan for the future and protect the environment, but it has to work for all of us. Right now, corporate influence in politics is getting in the way of progress on everything from tackling climate change to housing affordability.
Instead of delivering a better future for all of us, the Liberal, National and Labor parties take millions of dollars in donations from big corporations, hold private meetings, and organise cushy lobbyist jobs for ex-politicians, with no transparency or accountability.
They donate for a reason. In return for their donations, big agribusiness, property developers, the banks, gambling corporations and mining giants have received billions of dollars’ worth of favourable policy decisions from Liberal/National and Labor governments.
While the major parties continue to take money from big corporate interests, they will never be completely focused on what is good for our communities or our environment. From local decisions on the site of the new Tweed Hospital and water mining approvals, to national issues like Adani or the management of the Murray/Darling, it is clear that the major parties, and the National Party in particular, will put vested interest ahead of community interest every time. We deserve better.
Unlike the major parties, the Greens refuse to take donations from corporations trying to buy influence. The Greens are focused on outcomes that are good for our community, not outcomes that suit big donors. The Greens can’t be bought and they won’t sell out. They have a plan to return integrity and transparency to the political system and hold politicians and major parties to account.
Now is the time for us to work together and build a democracy that works for everyone. The Greens are committed to cleaning up politics. We need a better way that builds a future for all of us, not just those with vested interests and big pockets.
I am sorry Mark but the Greens are in there with the Liberals, the Nationals and Labor.
Jeremy Buckingham is now Independent.
Vote Independent …. of Parties.
The Greens have 4 pillars which guide their policies, ie ecological sustainability, grassroots participatory democracy, social justice, peace and non-violence. Please check out the amazing Greens policies: https://greens.org.au/nsw/policies . If you google the Liberal, National and Labor Party websites, you will find that they have no available overarching policy framework.
You will also find that there are many points of difference between the Greens and other parties. For example, the Greens are the only party opposing the Adani coal mine with a ‘no new coal mine’ policy. The Greens are the only party with a policy to achieve 100% clean renewable electrical energy in NSW by 2030. The only party against coal seam gas and water mining are the Greens. The Greens are the only party with an integrated Northern Rivers public transport policy which includes rail. The Greens are the only party with a policy to abolish TAFE and univertsity student fees. The Greens are the only party with a policy to retain and expand the current hospital at Tweed Heads instead of plonking a new hospital on state significant red soil farmland. The list goes on.
Greens policies are developed through democratic consensus decision-making processes which set the standard that Greens MPs and candidates adhere to. Independent candidates have no such foundation upon which to make decisions. They can say what’s popular prior to an election with no accountability to fulfil their promises if elected.
I think the Greens are on the right path but don’t necessarily agree with 100% of their policies. The major parties fail average Aussies for the reasons listed in this article. For that reason I plan on running as an Independent for the Senate, when the federal election is finally called.
Maybe we’re going about one of the Greens aspirational projects all wrong, the users of a high speed elevated ride would be cashed up Japanese Tourists over for Golden Week, or whatever, its only nine hours, then locals could share the infrastructure, rather than the greens ai.lessly backbiting everyone.