2022-02-25
We’re about 80 days away from being able to turf out this terrible government. That means we’re 80 days from sitting down with the next government to demand they tackle what really matters.
By Adam Bandt
G’day Greens,
As I write to you we still have no confirmed date for the election, but we know the final possible date is 21 May 2022.
That means we’re about 80 days away from being able to turf out this terrible government. 80 days from sitting down with the next government and demanding that they tackle the dual crises of climate change and rampant economic inequality.
I, for one, can’t wait.
What does Greens in balance of power mean?
You might have seen earlier this month that we announced our first balance of power demand: a moratorium on new coal and gas projects.
Now this might sound obvious: surely, a party who claims to be serious about climate action isn’t opening up new mines in 2022, right?
Unfortunately that’s not the case, and this demand has ruffled feathers across both old parties, both of whom are keen to maintain lucrative coal and gas donations despite the scientific community’s urgent pleas for us to decarbonise.
But we’re clear-eyed on this: coal, oil and gas are fuelling the climate crisis, and there are practical solutions right in front of us.
Different parties might claim that they’re not willing to work with us, but unfortunately for them that’s not how politics works.
If we’ve got the numbers after the election, they’ll have no choice but get serious about climate action.
Why are the major parties so obsessed with the Greens?
Last week, we noticed that the major parties were starting to get a little… obsessive. Check this out:
Yep, that’s 32 mentions of the Greens in and before Question Time.
We can’t help but think it means they must be getting nervous about the power all of you are flexing in the lead up to this election. And so they should be!
Melbourne: we’re coming back
This month I got to meet with some artists and venues in my local electorate of Melbourne, who reminded me that live music and musicians are still doing it really tough after COVID.
After we joined them in a campaign calling on the state government to act, the collective of venues and artists were able to get the restrictions for venues brought into line with other similar venues in the state. It was a testament to the power and energy of the community that they got their demands heard, and we were honoured to be able to assist with letters to the relevant ministers. The Greens are proud to fight for artists and communities, and we’ll always take their fight to parliament.
I also paid a visit to Melbourne’s Park Hotel, where around 30 people are illegally detained.
The only reason these people are detained is cruelty. We cannot allow this to continue, or ever happen again.
We need to dismantle this torture machine created by Labor and the Liberals, and end indefinite offshore detention.
The Greens will always fight to close the camps, free the refugees and make Australia the compassionate country we should be.
Earlier in February I was also thrilled to join the Queer Greens Victoria at the annual Pride march in St Kilda. It’s been a long couple of years without a good street party!
Ahead of the religious discrimination marathon sitting, it was so important to march alongside those in our community who were pointlessly and politically targeted again by this hateful bill. I’m thrilled that the bill was dumped but I’m furious that it happened at all, again. I’ll keep fighting for queer rights in parliament and the Greens will always have LGBTQIA+ protections as a core of our platform.