2015-11-10
Senator Richard Di Natale
Over the weekend we saw the fruits of our party's constitutional reform in action. A highly productive, respectful and exciting National Conference, with robust debates on the big issues we face, capped off a year of similarly effective National Council meetings. I'm really proud of the way we're working together as a party and I'm feeling really optimistic about our future.
The Greens' vote is growing. We've picked up seats from the Liberals, the Nationals and Labor, and there are seats right around the country where the Greens stand a real chance. Our vote among young people is matching it with the bigger parties and I don't think it'll be too long before Australia will be like many other democracies in Europe and Canada where there are three or more parties fighting it out to see who forms government.
There's just three weeks left in this Parliamentary year. The federal Party Room has decided to use our final block of Private Senator's time to push our amendment to the Marriage Act — reminding Malcolm Turnbull that the Parliament could end discrimination in marriage now, without a costly and divisive plebiscite.
Global warming is pushing itself onto the agenda of countries right around the world, with the Paris climate talks just around the corner. Larissa Waters and I will each be spending a week at COP21 — holding Malcolm Turnbull to account, ensuring the international community isn't fooled by our change of Prime Minister into thinking there's been any change to Australia's pathetic climate policy, and pushing for decarbonisation of the economy by 2040.
There's a real risk that coal will be the elephant in the room in Paris. Malcolm Turnbull keeps talking about building an innovative, 21st century economy, but you simply can't be serious about doing that if you refuse to replace the energy sources of the past with the renewable technologies of the future.
There have been some interesting polls lately, showing the vast majority of Australians understand that human behaviour is damaging our climate. Interestingly, even the people who don't believe that still want to see action on global warming. In Malcolm Turnbull's seat of Wentworth and across the harbour in North Sydney, the majority of people say they'd support a moratorium on new coal mines.
I had the pleasure of joining the North Sydney Greens for their campaign launch with Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans last week. The by-election triggered by Joe Hockey's resignation isn't being contested by Labor, making it clearer than ever that the Greens are the true opposition to the Liberals' agenda.
We're making it known that voting Green on December 5 will tell Malcolm Turnbull loud and clear: a change of leadership has to mean more than new business cards. People want genuine change to drive down inequality, enhance our economy and protect the natural environment that sustains us.
Onward and upward,
Richard