2018-07-20
Super Saturday is fast approaching, with five federal seats going to the polls next week. So how did we get here, and what does it mean for the Greens?
By National Co-Convenors Rebecca Galdies and Alex Schlotzer
The Super Saturday by-elections in Perth, Fremantle, Mayo, Braddon and Longman on July 28th are promising to be some of the most consequential political contests in years. With rumours of an early election and maybe even a Labor leadership spill swirling, every politics tragic in Australia will be sitting on the edge of their seat as the results begin trickling in on Saturday night.
How did we get here? It turns out that the two old political parties just couldn’t stomach acting with the kind of integrity Greens senators Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters showed when they unintentionally triggered this Section 44 fiasco with their resignations last July. Instead, the Liberals and Labor set off a race to the bottom by refusing to agree to the Greens’ proposal to end this once and for all with an independent audit of the entire Parliament.
And so, for more than a year, the Australian people have watched a steady parade of elected representatives suddenly ’remembering’ their dual-citizenship and marching off to retirement. This five-way race on Saturday was dreamed up by Malcolm Turnbull as a last best chance to buy some breathing space for his Government, which is sitting on a razor-thin majority.
Will his gamble pay off? Pundits will be closely watching the ALP-held seats of Longman, Braddon and Perth to see whether media speculation that Shorten will face a leadership challenge from Anthony Albanese comes true or not. The smart money says that a loss in two out of those three will trigger a leadership spill.
For his sins, Malcolm Turnbull will be watching with a hawk’s eye for any sign that his attempt to buy off voters with his cruel tax policies have worked; if he thinks they have, we could be heading to an election within months.
So what does it all mean for us in the Australian Greens? A lot, actually!
Movements in Mayo
In the South Australian seat of Mayo, our dedicated volunteers have rallied behind Greens candidate Major ‘Moogy’ Sumner AM, a highly respected Ngarrindjeri elder. Moogy has been speaking to the people of Mayo about the fight for more water for the River Murray, the need to increase our investment in renewable energy, transition away from fossil fuels and protect the Great Australian Bight with World Heritage listing.
Clear concerns in the community – like the need for greater investment in aged care, support for those doing it tough on minimum wage, or Newstart, and making sure the community has adequate access to mental health support – have seen Greens policies stand out above the rest.
At the Mayo by-election campaign launch in July, hundreds of people packed into a small country hall to see Moogy in conversation with former Greens leader Bob Brown and Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Moogy received a standing ovation from the crowd both before and after he delivered an inspiring speech about caring for people and for country.
Despite the long campaign, our hard-working volunteers fighting on the ground to send Moogy to Canberra say there is still plenty of energy entering into the final weeks before Election Day.
The quest for Queensland
Up in Queensland, Caboolture local Gavin Behrens has been out on the hustings fighting to make sure we get the funding we need for our schools, the investment we need for extra health services for our kids and ageing parents, and fixes to the system so all of us get the chance to study or retrain to keep up with a changing world.
Gavin and his incredible team of volunteers have been focusing on the way in which power bills, transport costs, rates and rents are squeezing the very last dollar out of our pockets. When work is harder to find and harder to keep when you get it, paying for the essentials is tougher than ever. That’s why his team is taking to the community with our positive program for transitioning rapidly to a sustainable, jobs-rich 21st century economy built on renewables.
Fighting for Fremantle
In Fremantle, the team supporting Greens candidate Dorinda Cox have been hard at work on achieving the two goals – upskilling volunteers and building Cox’s profile in the Fremantle electorate – that they identified as key going into the by-election campaign.
The feedback has been uniformly positive, with campaigners there saying they have successfully achieved both goals, in particular upskilling key volunteers and normalising field campaigning within the Fremantle branch.
Basing their field campaign around neighbourhood areas, each of which had team leaders leading a local team of door-knockers, had not been done in Fremantle before. Now, however, they anticipate the branch will be comfortable moving forward into the federal election with key neighbourhood team leaders now having organising experience.
The battle for Braddon
The campaign for Braddon has been heating up recently with our candidate Jarrod Edwards taking on the old parties by offering a positive alternative to their tired trickle-down policies.
Jarrod's been throwing a spotlight on the urgent need to increase the minimum wage and social support payments, protecting takayna/Tarkine and increasing the availability of affordable housing.
Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale and Greens Senator Nick McKim lent their support to the campaign during a fantastic day on the ground with the volunteer team in Burnie last month. Importantly, they talked with people who struggle every day to survive on pernicious Newstart payments, having to jump through hoops just to make ends meet.
As the Tassie team enters last phase of the campaign, they’re fired up and excited to speak with voters about the issues that matter to them. There'll be doorknocking, letterboxing, market stalls and a beach clean-up, plus lots of media along the way. All this to make sure we maximise their visibility, message and chances of getting another responsible Green voice in the Parliament.
The Section 44 debacle has been painful for the country and especially for the Australian Greens, who lost two of the most responsible and caring voices in Parliament in senators Larissa Waters and Scott Ludlam. The fact that we’re still dealing with its fallout more than a year after Scott resigned should tell you everything you need to know about the priorities of the two old parties.
But what’s also clear is that it offers us, as members of the largest progressive political party in Australia, a fantastic opportunity to sharpen our message and campaigning ahead of the next federal election, whenever that they may end up being. It’s given us a chance to demonstrate our integrity to the nation and to reach a whole new range of people with our positive message for the future.