2022-02-26
In this Federal election campaign The Greens (WA) emphasize climate action, First Nations justice, equitable income distribution and coverage of dental and mental under Medicare
By Grace Turco, The Greens (WA)
This federal election is our opportunity to get rid of Scott Morrison’s Liberal government for good, and to put the Greens in the balance of power.
But we need your help. For people to vote Greens this year, we need to convince them it’s worth it. And for that, conversations are vital.
Conversations are the most basic element of change-making; they drive the beast that is people power, and that is the best tool we have to create change. Take marriage equality for example: people power pushed those in Canberra to vote to change the law. And it was people like you having conversations that sowed the seeds for those votes.
So now, let’s use conversations to make as many people as possible vote Greens this election. Here are the top 4 issues to talk to your mates about this election:
1. URGENT ACTION ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS
We face a critical decade. This is our last federal election to take real action on the climate crisis.
The major parties have shown us that climate action will only come from having strong Greens voices in Parliament. When Morrison and the Labor Party talk about their 2050 or 2040 targets, they’re deliberately avoiding the action that needs to be taken before 2030.
Now we have no choice. Over the next decade, we need to rapidly transition our power grid to wind and solar backed by storage, and electrify our transport, businesses and homes to run on clean energy.
The Greens plan will mean not just a transition to 100 percent renewable energy as we replace coal and gas power stations, but becoming a renewables superpower, exporting our renewable energy to the rest of the world through renewable hydrogen, solar electricity, and green materials.
We will attract massive new international investment in clean manufacturing and industries to Australia. This clean energy revolution will create hundreds of thousands of well-paid, long-term jobs, enabling workers in fossil fuel industries to transition farmers to be paid to farm carbon and protect the land.
2. TREATY AND FIRST NATIONS JUSTICE
White Australia has a Black history. This country was founded on the invasion and dispossession of First Nations peoples. Until we are honest about that fundamental injustice and its ongoing impacts, we can’t move together into the future.
A Treaty, or Treaties, would address that injustice, reframe how we operate as a society, change the course of this country’s history and set us on a new path.
A Treaty is a written agreement between the Sovereign First People of these lands ‒ people who have been there from time immemorial ‒ and the colonising state, that imposed its authority upon First Nations people without negotiation or consent. To do this, we first need truth-telling about the historical and ongoing injustices faced by this country’s First nations people.
Currently Australia lags behind other Commonwealth countries in failing to pursue a Treaty process with its First Nations Peoples.
Treaty will ensure Aboriginal people’s voices are counted. It can be a process that benefits all Australians, and be a platform to address many of the pressing issues we face as a country ‒ protection of land and water, tackling the climate crisis, and addressing growing economic inequality.
3. MAKING THE BILLIONAIRES AND BIG CORPORATIONS PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE
Economic inequality in Australia is out of control, because big corporations and billionaires have too much power. The major parties can’t tackle inequality because they rely on millions in donations from billionaires and big corporations.
Wages have flatlined, work is more insecure, and the cost of living keeps going up. Shockingly young people in Australia now earn less than they would have a decade ago. It’s because billionaires and big corporations have too much power, are making massive profits, not paying their fair share of tax, and getting politicians to write the rules in their favour.
Currently:
- 1 in 3 of Australia’s big corporations pay no tax;
- Australia’s top ten billionaires increased their wealth by 68 percent during the pandemic; and
- Corporations received billions of dollars in public money through JobKeeper, and many funnelled it into profits and executive bonuses.
The Greens will introduce the first ever ‘billionaires tax’ in Australia and make the billionaires pay their fair share. By making the billionaires pay an extra 6 percent of their wealth back each year, we can help get dental care into Medicare, ensure our public schools are genuinely free and give a job to everyone who wants one.
We will also introduce a super-profits tax on big corporations, so that big corporations making super profits pay their fair share too.
4. DENTAL AND MENTAL INTO MEDICARE
The pandemic has revealed how important a properly funded health care system is.
Dental care is too expensive. People are putting off going to the dentist, and we’re seeing preventable dental issues get worse over time, causing lifelong health issues that can become serious illnesses.
Each year two million Australians delay or don’t go to the dentist because they can’t afford it.
The Greens will provide Medicare-funded free dental care to all, accessible through your Medicare card so everyone can visit the dentist when they need to.
Thanks to chronic underinvestment, and two years of lockdown, we now have a mental health crisis. Mental health care is expensive, hard to find, and appointments can take months to get because of long wait lists.
Most of the time, the Medicare rebate for mental health care doesn’t cover the full cost of seeing psychologists and psychiatrists.
The Greens plan includes:
- Invest $4.8 billion to ensure mental healthcare is fully covered under Medicare by providing unlimited sessions with a psychologist or psychiatrist with no out of pocket fees so everyone can get the support they need, when they need it, at every stage of their mental health journey
- Invest $2.5 billion to implement a national rollout of the Individual Placement and Support program to help young people impacted by poor mental health find stable work
- Increase the number of peer workers by 1,000 workers, so those with lived experience can provide invaluable support to those going through recovery
- Advocate for the development of specialised, ongoing mental health training for medical students and GPs
- Address the social determinants of health like economic and social security.
Are you ready to start having these conversations? Sign up to volunteer with your local Greens campaign here: greens.org.au/wa/volunteer
See you out there!