2026-01-22
GREEN ROOM REFLECTIONS: BUILDING AN ORGANISED MOVEMENT
By Your Greens Team
“There is an organised opposition, but there’s no organised movement.”
That was one of the lines that stayed with us from Gary Stevenson’s conversation with Senator Peter Whish-Wilson in the latest episode of our new series, The Green Room.
It speaks directly to the role the Greens have to play in Australian politics.
There's already an enormous infrastructure built to protect concentrated wealth and corporate power: billionaire-funded think tanks, powerful lobby groups, media influence, paid commentators and increasingly sophisticated social media operations.
Our job is to build the organised movement capable of taking that on.
Because people know something is wrong.
Housing is becoming less affordable. Living standards are being squeezed. Governments tell us there isn't enough money for the services people need, while the wealth of those at the very top continues to grow.
If you’ve watched Gary’s Economics on YouTube, you’ll know his argument is that inequality connects those things.
“Inequality is not just like an abstract concept. It's not even just about fairness,” he said. Without action, “it will continue to drive living standards down.”
That is exactly the kind of fight the Greens are here to lead!
Our Tax the 1% campaign asks people with more than $10 million in wealth to contribute more. We’re fighting for a 25% tax on Australia’s enormous gas exports, so more of the wealth beneath our feet benefits the people who actually live here.
And every time we do, we see the power lined up against change.
In the most recent sitting of Parliament, Labor and the Liberals joined forces to pass weak gambling laws after the major parties received more than $6 million from the gambling industry over the past five years. When we try to make multinational gas corporations pay more tax, the industry mobilises and the major parties fall into line.
Gary drew a direct connection between worsening living standards and the growing appeal of the far right. His warning from the UK was that unless progressives offer a clear explanation for why people are getting poorer, the far right can win simply by being the only political force offering one:
“The far right is going to win just by simply being the only political group in the world that has a clear narrative about why living standards are falling.”
That matters here as Pauline Hanson and One Nation try to channel legitimate anger about housing, wages and the cost of living towards migrants and other scapegoats — while some of Australia’s wealthiest people help fund and promote them. Gary’s point is that their economic pitch ultimately fails the very people they claim to represent:
“We have less money, but we have a better sell.”
The Greens have a different story to tell.
As Gary put it: “The problem is inequality. The problem is billionaires. The way to fix that is to fix a broken tax system.”
But having the better argument isn’t enough. We have to build the power to make it heard.
That means supporting strong progressive voices, investing in organisers and campaigners, competing in the online spaces where the far right is growing, and continuing to build real communities where people can meet, organise and belong.
That is part of what The Green Room is about.
It’s a new kind of fundraising event for the Greens: bringing interesting people and big ideas into conversation with our movement, while raising the resources we need to act on them.
Because the forces we are up against have enormous amounts of money.
What the Greens can build is something stronger: thousands of people contributing what they can, backing bold ideas, supporting compelling voices and giving our movement the capacity to change what is politically possible.
There is an organised opposition. Our task is to build the organised movement that can beat it.
We’ve got more, exciting episodes of The Green Room coming up, with some very exciting guests, so stay tuned. Tickets include access to the live event and a recording to watch later, or if you can’t make it on the night.