The Greens and the balance of power

King says that “the problem with accepting donations from special interest groups … is that once the favour is paid, they come back and say “we also want you to fix X,Y and Z. You’re in their pockets.” Does this mean that the Democrats have been in the pockets of the PBL, The Trucking Association, the Casino Association, the Bankers Association, James Hardie, Phizer and Macquarie Bank?

The Greens are proud of the support they have received from sectors of the union movement in recognition of the strong stance they have taken on the Howard Government’s IR reforms. Without such support it is even harder for the Greens to get their message out to Australian voters.

Like the Democrats, the Greens struggle with limited parliamentary resources and limited funding. Both parties currently have four senators and both have identical levels of federal parliamentary staff. King is incorrect when he states that the Democrats have three media advisers and the Greens 12, although it is good for staff morale to hear that others see us as being four times more effective.

King is also wrong to suggest that the Greens will receive $6 million in campaign donations; the final figure is likely to be less than 10 per cent of that. The reason that the Greens do have more money than the Democrats has got nothing to do with donations and everything to do with the way the public funding of political parties works. Put simply, the more people who vote for you the more money you get. Because so few people voted for the Democrats at the last election they only received $8,000 in public funding, but that is hardly the Greens fault.

This year’s election will be crucial. Voters need to realise that there will be two elections held simultaneously later this year: one to see who will form government, and another to see who will sit in the house of review. At present the Howard Government holds 39 of the 76 Senate seats, giving them the absolute majority they need to drive through IR and NT takeover laws with no debate and no amendments.

The only way for progressive parties to take back control of the Senate is to win votes from the Coalition and direct preferences to each other. We should all be working to educate voters about the importance of taking back control of the Senate. That’s what the Greens will be doing.