2014-10-08
Christine Cunningham
Since September, we have had several phone link-up sessions and last weekend we held a final video hook up to prepare for the 30-day deadline for the submission of finalised constitutional change proposals to our upcoming November National Conference in Canberra. I am very proud of our party and the way we have so far managed to negotiate tricky and controversial issues in the spirit of consensus using respectful, safe meeting procedures.
While I have certainly detected different perspectives and opinions about what will the best form of constitution for our 21st Century party, at the same time I have also observed every party member involved in the process come to each meeting with the best of intentions for the good of our entire party.
In coming days, these proposals will filter down to all regional/local groups around the country for the consideration of all members (if you're not a member, you can join today!). Wading through a large tranche of complicated proposals is difficult work and only the nerdiest of us will probably enjoy the process. Still, I strongly urge you all to read and consider thoroughly the various options being put to you so that you can be a part of this historic time in our party as we attempt to improve the way our national party operates now and for perhaps several decades to come.
Our party was founded with a constitution based on the four pillars of social justice, peace and disarmament, ecological wisdom and grassroots democracy. In the Australia of today, our pillars are needed more than ever. I witness in horror the news of recent days, as the Coalition and ALP reveal their close similarities by joining forces to support another war in the Middle East; to continue off-shore non-processing of asylum seekers in shameful concentration camps; to put off a referendum for the recognition of Australia's First Peoples; to cut disability support pensions — and the list seems to go on and on.
I have seen many articles and memes on social media recently mourning the fact that the ALP is not acting as an Opposition. Many seem surprised that the Labor Party is complicit in nasty neo-liberal deals, but I am not one of those. I joined the Greens more than a decade ago because I knew our party represents the truly progressive-left.
I believe it is time for Australians to get used to the idea that we are the party that is the true Opposition and one day in the hopefully near future the Greens will then become the party of government. The constitutional changes we are working so hard on now should help us prepare our party and Australian society for this future. A future where the Australia Greens govern in a manner that is fair and just for all in our multicultural, participatory democracy.