FICTION: A Green vote is a wasted vote.
FACT: Your vote for the Greens is never wasted. A vote for the Greens is a vote for the Greens - for real climate action, for fairness, for sustainability.
More than one million Australians voted for the Greens in the 2007 federal election and our support is growing every day.
The Greens are Australia's third biggest party. There are over 100 Green councillors, over 20 State Greens MPs and five Greens Senators and they are there because of voters like you. In the last three years, the Greens primary vote has reached record highs and your support has helped to elect the first Greens Cabinet members and Ministers in Tasmania, as well as the first Greens Speaker in the ACT Assembly.
In 2007, 74 House of Representatives seats (just under half) were decided based on preference flow, that is, no one candidate acheived 50% of the first preference votes. In these seats, it was votes from other candidates, such as the Greens or independents, that got MPs elected. The members elected in these seats may need preference flow to retain their seats at this election.
Under Australia's electoral system, you can vote for the Greens to send a message about climate action, fairness and sustainability, and still direct your vote to candidates in your order of preference. Your House of Representatives vote is transferred at its full value.
KEY CONVERSATION POINTS:
- Your Green vote is never wasted; it always goes towards getting a Green elected - and if the Green candidate is knocked out of the race, it goes to your next preference.
- There are elected Greens working at all levels of government around Australia
- MPs from other parties with high Green votes in their electorate, or who won because of Green preferences, know that they need to work for climate action, fairness and sustainability or risk losing that preference flow to an opponent.
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