Australian Greens

The Australian Greens is the national Greens party in Australia. It was formed as a coalition of the various state Greens parties, although the Greens (Western Australia) preserved a separate identity for some time. At the federal level there are four Greens in the Australian Senate (Senators Bob Brown, Kerry Nettle, Christine Milne and Rachel Siewert). There was one MP in the Australian House of Representatives (Michael Organ), who was elected at a by-election in 2002, but he lost his seat at the 2004 elections. The Australian Greens do not have a formal leadership, but Senator Brown of Tasmania is treated in the media as the party's leader.

Dispute with the Herald Sun

On August 31st 2004, the Melbourne Newspaper the Herald Sun published an cover story entitled ?Greens policy backs illegal drugs?, the article received extensive media attention and was disseminated widely by groups opposed to the Australian Greens, in particular the Liberal Party of Australia.

Related Topics:
Herald Sun - Liberal Party of Australia

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In response to the article Greens Senator Bob Brown made a complaint to the Australian Press Council, who ruled that the article made a number of false claims about the Australian Greens and stated that ?The Council views this article as irresponsible journalism.? An appeal by the Herald Sun was dismissed, and The Herald Sun was required to publish the Press Council?s adjudication in its newspaper.

Related Topics:
Bob Brown - Australian Press Council - Journalism

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Of the article's impact, Senator Brown stated "This was no accident or mistake. The aim was to attack the Greens, not through the editorial column, but through the news pages. The outcome of the false concoction of the Greens policies was to lose our party tens of thousands of votes and, in my calculation, seats in parliament".

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