Greens could hold balance in NSW

The election on March 26 will deliver the Lower House and Government to Barry O’Farrell’s NSW Liberals. But whether the social, economic, and environmental future of New South Wales is ultra-conservative or something less unpleasant may yet be decided in the Upper House.

The New South Wales Greens officially launched their 2011 election campaign this week, filling Balmain Town Hall with supporters of the party and special guest Federal Leader Bob Brown alike.

Greens MLC, David Shoebridge, a candidate for re-election to the Upper House, believes this is where NSW’s social, environmental, and cultural future will be shaped.

Shoebridge explained that for Greens four is the magic number. With four Green members elected and two continuing, Fred Nile’s Christian Democrats (CDP) and the Shooter’s Party candidates may not become the decisive cultural force in NSW.

“Provided they get thrown their crumbs,” Shoebridge said, the CDP and the Shooter’s traditionally support whichever party forms government. Those ‘crumbs’ potentially include the use of shotguns and automatic rifles in National Parks and another look at Fred Nile’s burqa ban.

He also expects high value forests to reopen for logging, mining, and grazing under pressure from Nationals and Shooters. And for Premier O’Farrell to extend the public assets garage sale, with everything from electrical generation, Sydney Water, and outsourcing of community services up for grabs.

The Coalition denies such an agenda. Valuable public resources are not to be ‘privatised’, but ‘franchised’.

“I’m sure that when your readers go into McDonald’s, they don’t feel like they have public ownership of that franchise restaurant,” continued Shoebridge. “It’ll be the same when they go into a ‘franchised’ Sydney ferry – they’ll be privately run, they’ll be privately operated. They’ll just be badged as Sydney Ferries.”

In these final weeks, Shoebridge and his colleagues will be spruiking 3 newly announced policy initiatives: construction of three base-load solar thermal power plants, two years of free pre-school education and increased public access to quality public dental services. With Fiona Byrne tipped to oust Carmel Tebbutt in Marrickville and Jamie Parker looking to roll Verity Firth in Balmain, a final touch of big promise style campaigning may be just what’s needed to secure historic fresh Green territory in the Lower House as well.

Of course, Shoebridge points out, “the Coalition know that they don’t have to do anything to win this election” given that they are challenging “a Labor administration which is utterly discredited – probably the single most discredited administration in living memory in Australian politics.”

One of the few solid promises O’Farrell has made is to excise the government’s out of control 3A planning powers.But speaking to shadow minister for planning, Brad Hazzard, Shoebridge could determine only that there is no Liberal plan for what to do with 3A. He expects that they will relabel it as 3B.

“It’ll be the same centralization of power, the same ‘discretionary’ planning decisions, except that they’ll be made by a Liberal minister instead of a Labor minister and the people of New South Wales will be no better off.”

In an election with Kristina Keneally’s shredders working overtime, Liberals embracing silence as golden, and so little substance up for discussion, there certainly is a lot at stake. But it’s also little wonder that the Greens aren’t preferencing either of the major political brand names.

In the midst of it all, are there any lessons to be gained from the newly formed federal parliament and will public ambivalence help or hinder a party like the Greens?

“What we’re seeing federally is a parliament that works like a parliament, it’s not just a rubber stamp for the government of the day. So we’re seeing issues actually debated on the floor of the parliament and if it’s a good idea, it wins the day because it becomes law. If it’s a bad idea, it doesn’t.”

He hopes that Australians can again “start getting used to a parliament functioning like a parliament, and not just being a bully’s pulpit for the government of the day.”

“Within that context it’s dispelling the myth that a vote for the Greens is a wasted vote because a vote for the Greens will deliver representatives in the Upper House and hopefully in a number of seats in the Lower House who will get in and make the parliament function like it should – by putting forward progressive ideas and hold the government to account.”

Breakout Box——————————————————-

Things Shoebridge expects if O’Farrell’s unchecked

1 Politics of intolerance – like burqa bans and similar attacks on Sydney’s multicultural heart

2 Expanded privatisation of public assets

3 Winding back of gains for women, for minorities, and for the environment

4 Outsourcing and ‘franchising’ of public services

5 Winding back of educational advancements, like ethics classes