2015-02-03
Ben Moroney and Eliza Scarpellino
The Greens do politics differently. Nowhere is that clearer than the Young Greens. The youth wings and campus clubs of the old parties exist as a playground for budding backbenchers and ministers-in-training, a holding pen for the born-to-rule and a source of easy volunteer labour while they go through the motions before preselection to a safe Parliamentary seat.
The Young Greens, on the other hand, offer real political engagement to young people on issues truly relevant to them. Young Greens from across Australia are active and engaged by the party in forming policy, running campaigns, participating in on the ground activism and organising and contributing to grassroots, Green decision-making. Young Greens carry a loud and passionate voice in the Greens and have been instrumental in driving change, both in the party and in society.
In 2014, Young Greens were on the front lines opposing the Abbott Government's rotten, regressive agenda. Young Greens threw their voice and their energy behind the campaign against university cuts that would have seen education taken out of the reach of the working class and placed back as the sole providence of the wealthy elite; while the struggle may have concluded in the Senate, the war was won on the streets, winning the hearts and minds of Australians and convincing them to stand up for our education system. Young Greens fought for Medicare, for marriage equality and LGBTI rights, for our rights to privacy and for the rights of women to bodily autonomy. Young Greens stood up in mass movements for jobseekers, for the disabled and for innocent refugees trying to build a better life in our country. Young Greens campaigned for the hearts and minds of Australians, and while not always immediately victorious, set the stage for a mass social movement which has seen the Abbott Government become the most unpopular government in recent history.
By joining the Young Greens, you join a truly democratic organisation, where decisions are made by the members and where everybody has an equal voice. An organisation where young people are respected and our contributions are valued, and where our talents can be nurtured to help build a better Australia. An organisation where you can be sure that, every day you volunteer, contribute, organise or agitate, you are working with a collective of the most progressive, dedicated, talented and passionate people in the country; and most importantly, one that would be honoured to have you.