2015-10-29
Giz Watson and Penny Allman-Payne (Australian Greens Co-Convenors)
This has been another busy month for the co-convenors, especially with the planning and preparation that goes into our National Conference.
The National Conference is coming up soon in Adelaide on the 6th, 7th and 8th November and you still have time to register and join us to “Take Hope – Reclaim our Future”.
Don't miss out: register today at our web site.
Over the last three weekends Giz has attended three meetings of State member bodies: NSW State Delegates Council; Queensland's State Council Workshop Day; and WA's AGM. These are her comments:
It has been a great opportunity to compare the variation in our cultures and practises in different states. NSW should be rightly proud with huge numbers of delegates and other participants tackling an ambitious and wide-ranging agenda over a very full weekend. I take my hat off to the facilitators and minute taker for managing 46 local groups seated around the table. Plus the conversations during the breaks were many and animated. It was great to catch up with old friends and to make many new ones. A big thank you to Sarah and her husband who provided a very comfortable bed at short notice and an early morning dip in the ocean at Cronulla.
The Queensland's State Council Workshop Day was a little smaller and more focused on building skills. I enjoyed discussing consensus and facilitation as well as ideas for conflict resolution. It is great to see that the Queensland Greens have attracted a huge increase in membership over the past 12 months (48%!) so inducting new members into the organisation and training people in the best tools for participatory democracy is ongoing.
I was also reminded of the tyranny of distance that most of our State organisiations (and National for that matter!) face. This makes for particular challenges for genuine participation in party activities and decisions. There is still much improvement that can be gained especially using the greatly improved technology for online meetings. For example, many regional groups in WA report that participation has increased dramatically with use of the Loomio tool for online consensus.
Back in WA our AGM ran like clock-work (over and done with in under an hour). We passed major changes to our State constitution to reflect changes at the National level; elected a fine group of new office bearers; and awarded Honorary Life Membership to one of our former MPs, Dee Margetts, in recognition of her long-running contribution to the party and the State and Federal Parliaments.
I am sure if we share what's working best for we Greens in each state — whether that be in activism, policy outcomes, training and skill sharing, engaging new members, fundraising, campaigning or administration — and if we remember it is not just our achievements that are important but also continuing to build a vibrant, skilled and empowered membership, we will go from strength to strength.
See you in Adelaide!