2015-11-10
Catherine Garner
One of my favourite things about the Greens is our commitment to member-driven policy and this commitment is both wide and deep.
From those first visioning conversations to drafting and debating amendments, to consulting with members across the country, we really can say that our membership drives our policy process. Any member of the party — be they from Marrickville or Mackay — can make a suggestion and it will be considered with the same gravity and thoughtfulness as a proposal brought by an elected member. Seeing this process in action, how an ordinary member like myself could make a suggestion that would go on to become part of our policy platform, brought home for me how committed the Greens are to grassroots democracy and member-driven processes.
At first the thought of reviewing and amending 45 policies in just nine months was daunting. The Policy Coordinating Committee is a small working group with just 10 members representing each state and Party Room. By my rough calculations, in the last nine months the committee has spent more than 100 hours in meetings, considering in excess of 2000 proposed amendments and reached consensus on roughly 1000 proposals. This doesn't even begin to take into account the hundreds of hours that dedicated policy nerds (a term I use with love) across the country have committed to meeting together, debating ideas, discussing language and working towards articulating our vision for a better future for our community.
Without the trust, commitment to collaboration and consensus decision-making by all the states it wouldn't have been possible to achieve as much as we did. The hard work of members from all states meant that we were able to come to National Conference this last weekend with only a handful of amendments to discuss. Delegates met in break-out groups designed to pin down the last few points of contention. The work of states on consultation in the lead up to conference allowed us to reach consensus positions on the majority of amendments. This meant that the break-out groups at National Conference were able to give time and space to thoughtfully consider and discuss important issues ranging from dying with dignity to animal research and how to build a fairer economy.
Trust is an essential part of the consensus decision-making process. The willingness of delegates to trust each other and the process, both throughout this year and at National Conference, allowed for constructive outcome-oriented conversations that progressed quickly and reached positive outcomes. It is a testament to the collaborative approach of delegates that only a handful of proposals were unable to be resolved in the break-out groups.
Now that the policy review has concluded, the committee will be taking a well deserved break. I am keen to use this time to consider how to build on and improve the review process for the next review in 2018. If you have any feedback on how to improve the policy review feedback, and in particular the state-based consultation, please don't hesitate to get in touch. You can email myself and Rod Swift, who is my new and able policy co-convenor and document wrangler, at policy@greens.org.au.
Catherine Garner was re-elected as Policy Co-Convenor for the Australian Greens at the November 2015 Conference.