2018-11-07
By Chris Johansen, GI Co-editor
Yes, Richard Di Natale was in town to launch the campaign to get Jordon re-elected, which is going to be no easy task and will require inputs as never before from as many Greens (WA) members as possible. Dorinda Cox, Greens candidate for Fremantle in the recent byelection, compered the proceedings and she got her Auntie May to do the Welcome to Country. In doing so Auntie May referred to the abhorrent segregation practices imposed on Aboriginal people during her childhood, just after WW2 (reminding me of driving past those shanty towns on the outskirts of country towns when I was young). When Richard took the stage, he reiterated the need to ‘change the date’ and get down to a bit of truth-telling at last about the history of the invasion and its consequences.
Just the day before, Richard had given a presentation at the National Press Club in Canberra, which can be viewed here, and this served as a good rehearsal to his presentation before us. He made clear that his anger had risen to a new high, considering the current poor state of Australian politics, and now engulfing the ABC, a final bastion against fake news. Indeed, Richard did seem more animated, as well as eloquent, during this presentation. The day before, the moderator of the National Press Club, Sabra Lane, also noted this. 
Richard asserted that the influence of corporate donors on politics has never been so blatant – like with media moguls deciding among themselves who the future prime minister will be. However, he pointed out that the neoliberal lie that ‘what is good for business is good for all’ is falling apart at the seams and the opportunity is ripe to chart a different course. It is indeed time to rethink, and reverse, the privatization of public services carried out by both conservative and Labor governments over the last half century. The continuing procession of Royal Commissions is illustrating that. He asserted that The Greens are the only party with a commitment to public ownership of essential services, guided by optimizing services to customers rather than maximizing profits for shareholders. And he pointed out that The Greens have plenty to differentiate themselves from Labor as Labor in many respects operates at the behest of the big end of town, and essentially remains a disciple of ‘trickle-down’ economics.
Richard emphasized that it is not a question of either people or environment, rather that they are both intimately connected. The Greens vision is based on this precept and he went through some of the aspects to be particularly emphasized in the upcoming federal election campaign. Some of these were:
- Minimizing corporate influence in politics and jamming the revolving door between politics and corporations, and demolishing the golden staircase into top corporate jobs for retiring pollies;
- Setting up a national corruption watchdog;
- Changing the makeup of parliament to better reflect national diversity;
- Reforming the tax system so as to better distribute and utilize national wealth where it most benefits people’s well-being (now one in three corporations avoid tax);
- Set up publicly owned companies to provide essential services, e.g. electricity, health;
- Adequate support and legislation of independence of public broadcasters;
- Taking serious action on climate change;
- And so on.
Updated policies will be spelled out and released during the course of the election campaign.
Then, Dorinda introduced Jordon, who quickly demonstrated how he has blossomed in his first year as a politician. He firstly related some of his impressions of life in the Senate, from high points, like when the marriage equality act passed, to the low ones, like unexpectedly meeting up with One Nation members in the corridors. He outlined his unique opportunity of being able to provide a credible voice for young people and the disabled. When not in parliament he spends much of his time talking with and soliciting the ideas of young people and the disabled, gaining their confidence and learning how to better frame his arguments on their behalf. For example, in parliament, he strongly advocates for disability care to be incorporated in the upcoming aged care Royal Commission. 
As an orator, and especially a political one, I must conclude that Jordon is outstanding. He eloquently presented well researched subject matter with humour and flair. Part of that flair being use of his wheelchair not as a symbol of disability but as an advantageous prop, in making it swivel back and forth across the stage, like a wheelchair basketballer or even rugby player, to punctuate his speech. Richard Di Natale also said, that even though it was a tragedy to lose Scott Ludlam from the Senate, his replacement by Jordon has proven to be a real bonus to The Greens Senate Team. I would think everyone in the room concluded that Jordon must stay in the Senate.
You can see the entire presentation here.
To ensure that Jordon does stay in the Senate, we have a big task, of essentially raising The Greens first preference vote in WA. Currently national polling puts Greens at around 10-11% of primary vote, although I’m not sure what the current figure is for WA. To get a Senate seat quota requires 14.3%, so there are 3-4% to make up. Historically, for WA Greens to get elected into the Senate there has been a reliance on preferences from a few minor progressive parties and spillover from Labor once they have filled their quotas (2 or 3 in a half-senate election). But if there turns out to be few spillover votes from Labor, we are in trouble. Thus the need to boost Greens first preference votes across the state to at least get close to that 14.3%.
Header photo: Richard, Dorinda and Jordan, and Eslan translator
Text photos: Richard and Eslan translator, and Jordon presenting
Photo credits: Georgia Blackburn, except bottom text photo Chris Johansen