The Australian Democrats are no template for the Australian Greens

The Greens can also claim to be the only true "antidote" to Tony Abbott on many issues such as asylum seekers, Afghanistan and gay marriage, where the major parties are in lockstep.

This will only exacerbate if the Coalition does return to power at the next election, and the ALP finds itself in the position of often having to support the conservative government to get legislation through. While this will reinforce the view of them being "Tweedledum and Tweedledee," it will at least mean the Labor Party would be the effective arbiter of which Coalition policies became law and which ones didn't . . . a bit like the Democrats once were.

The Greens provide a coherent and consistent philosophy for the proportion of people who believe the focus of modern consumer society is wrong. Simply knowing what they stand for also gives the Greens a massive leg up over the ALP in reaching out to people who want to be given a clear direction, even those who, if they looked more critically at where that direction leads, would find it deeply troubling.

Canada provides a possible view of that kind of future. The previously dominant centre left Liberal Party have been almost entirely usurped by a new party to their left, which in their first past the post system has also greatly helped the Conservatives. While Canada has a history of greater electoral volatility than Australia, it does show how successful, in the current global climate of deep financial uncertainty, a party that is more socialist than democrat can be in capturing a significant proportion of votes.

But, for those Greens supporters believing that a new age awaits and expecting fundamental change through legislation, they need to remember that they can do nothing alone. The Greens cannot change anything without dealing with at least one of the other parties, and that's the long term reality. Without some pragmatism, the Greens will render themselves effectively irrelevant, as the Senate becomes a constant haggling house between the "old" parties to see what becomes law.

In the end the pragmatics that will inevitably result from the Greens being at the centre of the main game will drive some voters away from them and some others will return to the ALP fold as they slowly learn more about what the Greens actually believe in. However, given the current economic and social similarities of the two main players, I believe it's safe to say the Greens are here to stay.