2016-05-14
Giz Watson
The Australian Greens – From Activism to Australias Third Party interested me from a number of angles. First, being a long running Greens member Im always looking out for anything written about the Greens – and its surprising how few books have been written about the Australian Greens. Jackson notes that there have been books written by former MPs Bob Brown (The Greens), Ian Cohen (Green Fire) and Lance Armstrong (Good God, Hes Green!) – but otherwise only a few articles from journalists and academics.
Second, the sub-title – From Activism to Australias Third Party also engaged me as a few of us here in WA have been planning (for a while!) to write about the Greens WA from a similar perspective.
Third, Ive known Stewart since the early days of the Greens WA and value his insights into the evolution of the Greens across the country.
Fourth, given Jacksons WA heritage I hoped the book would have some WA specific observations.
The book sets out to answer the question why people engage in Australian politics on the Green side.
As Jackson says: 'With this in mind, my aim in writing this book has been to pause and take stock of the Australian Greens history and see whether by looking into the past, applying key questions to its members—both activists and staffers alike—and gathering some pertinent facts about the partys internal workings, I could unlock the answer to the question: how far have the Australian Greens moved from being a movement-based party to being a pragmatic professional one?
He expands this to say: 'the Greens have had to change and adapt organizationally, first as their membership and number of MPs grew, then as the demands of positioning themselves as an alternative government became greater. These changes necessitated offices, staff, then structural changes and, most recently, modifications to cultural practices within the party.
He observes: 'To reach an understanding of the distinctive character of the inner culture of the Australian Greens means looking closely at its history and realising that the very nature of the partys development, from its series of separate but linked local organisations to a federation of state-based parties, has meant that there is not one over-arching monoculture at work within the party. Instead a diverse set of behaviour, expectations and activities are present thanks to the different formation paths and histories of the local and state parties.
This rich diversity of the different State Greens cultures has been a source of fascination (and sometimes frustration!) for me as well especially during the recent process of reviewing the operations and constitution of the Australian Greens to create a new national structure.
So I found the book a good read, although the middle section is fairly dense as one might expect from an academic publication. I found myself agreeing with the majority of the analysis though I confess to being disappointed that early on Jackson falls into reinforcing the Tasmanian narrative of the origins of the Australian Greens. When all WA Greens, of course, know that the first Green Senator in Australia was in fact our very own Jo Vallentine in 1990 coming from a background as an anti-nuclear activist! A fact that has influenced our WA Greens culture significantly.
This book is especially useful for newer Greens members. I believe its important to know a bit about our history. From a WA perspective Jackson reflects on his early days with the Greens WA and his intrigue with circles, consensus, 'vibes watchers and what a contrast this was to his first political experiences with the socialists. This amused me particularly as I also remember from the other side my first encounter with 'socialist organising when I walked into my first meeting of the Greens WA and was shocked that the chairs were all lined up in front of a 'top table. I remember insisting that no Greens meeting ever operated like that and promptly reorganised the room into a circle!
The book also examines other topical aspects of our organisation, for example gender equality. The observation being: 'The implication (of this) is that even within the Greens, women are the 'public face of the party while men are engaging more in the 'party politics.
Congratulations to Stewart for this body of work which reflects his research over many years including many useful comparisons with the Greens history and experiences internationally. The book will contribute to a deeper understanding of where weve come from; our diversity; and some useful observations and analysis of the state of the party today.