2019-04-26
After months of preparation and hard work, we’re now just three short weeks out from the election. We have a bold vision, and I am proud to be working alongside you in this campaign to deliver it.
By Richard Di Natale
Well, we’re more than three weeks into this campaign and climate change is still the biggest issue on the election agenda. That’s exciting news for all of us because the Greens are the only party in this campaign with the plan and the vision to take the decisive action on climate change that people are demanding.
It’s no exaggeration that this is the climate change election, and it’s no exaggeration to say that the Liberals and Labor are falling so far short of the standard the Australian people expect.
As with any campaign, this is a long six weeks for us all, after months of preparation and hard work to get us this far. We’re only halfway through this campaign but we’re seeing the benefits of this work. Our platform is bold and strong. Our campaigns and candidates are passionate. We’re out there in the media, on the phones, knocking on doors and holding events – and we’re talking about a positive vision for the future, complete with big ideas.
We are the party talking about a move to 100% renewables, a plan to phase out coal and a renewable energy export industry. We’re talking about free TAFE and uni. We’re talking about dental care under Medicare. We’re talking about increasing Newstart and Youth Allowance by $75 a week, and we’re talking about building 500,000 new affordable community homes.
I’m so fortunate to have been able to visit campaigns around the country in the last few weeks – and the energy has been fantastic. We know this is a tough campaign for us, with Senate seats on the line and opportunities in lower house seats. It’s also a campaign that’s more important than ever, because of climate change.
We need Greens in Parliament to drive the strongest and most effective climate action – action that we know the Liberals and Labor will baulk at.
We see Bill Shorten sending mixed messages, claiming to support action on climate change while at the same time refusing to rule out Adani and opening up vast new areas for gas extraction. We see Labor candidates such as Josh Burns in Macnamara (where our candidate Steph Hodgins-May is just 477 new votes away from winning) saying that he opposes the Adani mine, only for his own leader to say that backbenchers are irrelevant to the Labor Party’s decision-making process.
Meanwhile, Scott Morrison and the Liberals and Nationals remain stuck on climate policies, with recriminations over the NEG, and commentary from Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott showing the enduring discord that exists within the conservatives.
That is why this campaign is so important. It’s why we’re all working so hard, and it’s why the effort we’ve put in for the last months and years has been so worthwhile.
Joining campaigns for phone banking, door knocking, conversations with voters and fantastic Greens events has shown me time and again that we have the ideas, and the vision that people are looking for in this campaign – a vision the major parties aren’t providing.
On Wednesday 1st of May, we’re launching our national campaign in Canberra – and I’ll be addressing the National Press Club, setting out the Greens’ election platform – a platform to build a future for all of us.
From now until 18th May, that will be our message: that by making the choices to ensure big corporations pay their fair share, we can build the things that benefit everyone, and we can set our nation up for the future. It’s a bold vision, and I am proud to be working alongside you in this campaign to deliver it.