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.

Political ideology

Because the party has been most vocal on environmental issues, it is often seen as a 'single issue' or 'special interest' party. However, its electoral successes have led to the formulation of a wider policy platform, especially with regards to economics, healthcare and social justice. Many of these policies are perceived to be radical and controversial, including support for euthanasia and harm minimisation drug programs. Such policies have attracted fierce criticism from many conservative groups, particularly the Family First Party. The Greens' adversary Fred Nile has referred to them as a "watermelon party - green on the outside, red and pink on the inside".http://www.cdp.org.au/fed/mr/040511f.asp.

Related Topics:
Euthanasia - Harm minimisation - Family First Party - Fred Nile - Red - Pink

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The Australian Greens have much political common ground with the Australian Democrats, particularly on environmental and social issues, a fact that has led to occasional suggestions of a merger between the two parties. However, the two parties differ more often on economic issues (e.g. the GST, which was introduced with Democrat support) and on their willingness to compromise with the major parties; in general, the Democrats have attempted to work with and moderate the government of the day, while the Greens are less willing to make such dealshttp://www.democrats.org.au/articles/?article_id=24&display=1. These differences have led to a rivalry between the two parties.

Related Topics:
Australian Democrats - GST

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In the 2004 election, the Democrats directed their preferences to a number of groups including the Veterans Party, the Progressive Alliance, and the Christian-influenced conservative party Family First, above the Greens, even though most Democrats abhorred many of Family First's policies. While this was interpreted by some as an act of hostility towards a rival threatening their political niche, it is not unusual in Australian politics for small parties that might otherwise have little in common to make mutually advantageous preference-swap deals with one another.

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