Why I’m Voting Greens

This column is part of our ‘Why I’m Voting‘ series. We asked five politically-minded writers — some with official ties, others without — to convince us, in 1000 words, to vote for their party. Each writer worked to the same brief and submitted their column on the same day; the following article represents the writer’s views — not the view of the party, not the view of this website, and not the view of every single person who votes that way.

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I really don’t want Tony Abbott to become Prime Minister.

I’ve never met him, so it’s nothing personal, though I probably wouldn’t be that keen to have a beer with him.

I’m anxious about his very conservative values, his party’s policies on fundamental issues like education, health, refugees and climate change, his attitude to women and, to be blunt, his propensity to act like a dickhead.

A large part of the Australian population doesn’t want him to be Prime Minister either. Even though it looks like he’s on track for victory this Saturday, over 50% of voters are dissatisfied with him. Most of these people will be voting for the Labor Party because they assume that, as the main opposition to Abbott’s Coalition, a vote for Labor is a vote against the values and policies that Abbott represents.

But if these voters are trying to avoid right-wing policies, protect the rights of women and workers and support our right to an education, I think they’ve missed the mark. A vote for Labor isn’t the best way to fight the prospect of Australia’s potentially most conservative Prime Minister. This picture explains why.

The image linked above represents one of the most depressing aspects of Australian politics over the past three years: the agreement between the Labor Party and Tony Abbott’s Coalition on fundamental political issues, which has led to incredibly negative outcomes in the community. Specifically, the photo shows Labor and the Coalition voting together to pass the notorious Malaysia Solution, which has since been struck down by the High Court.

If you looked at photos of the House of Representatives when our MPs were voting on cutting welfare for single mothers, on ripping billions of dollars of funding out of our universities, and on environmental protection around Australia, you would see a pretty similar image.

The sad reality is that in the pursuit of short-term political power, the Labor Party has sacrificed many of the values it once stood for. Now it finds itself much closer to Tony Abbott’s Coalition than it is to progressive principles.

Before you guys start to accuse me of saying that there’s no difference at all between the Coalition and Labor, let me make one thing clear. I do think the Labor Party, for all its faults, is better than Abbott’s Coalition. I can’t imagine a Coalition government building the National Broadband Network or protecting the rights of workers, for example. But I don’t think we should be forced into a false choice simply because one candidate is slightly better than the other.

I don’t think that voting for a party that locks up women and children who are seeking asylum, pushes single mothers into poverty, and cuts funding to universities is how to stop Tony Abbott.

Put simply: supporting conservative policies doesn’t stop conservatives.

Despite the vision and hope promised by Labor in 2007, we saw a lot less of this:

And too much of this.

Fortunately for voters who believe in social justice, fairness and equality, there has been a party willing to stand up to the conservative politics of both Tony Abbott’s Coalition and the Labor Party.

The Greens have consistently stuck to their principles, in the face of furious criticism and demands from the country’s only national newspaper that they be “destroyed”.

The Greens have been the only party to stand up for single mothers when their welfare was cut, the only party standing alongside university staff and students in their fight for funding, and the only party calling out the racist and reactionary policies of both major parties on refugees.

This election, I believe The Greens are putting themselves forward as a real alternative to voters who don’t want Tony Abbott to end up as Prime Minister, but are disappointed with the Labor Party’s track record.

One of the criticisms frequently levelled at The Greens, mainly by those in Labor, is that Greens MPs don’t want to influence outcomes; they just want to heckle from the sidelines. Not only is this argument particularly ironic — Labor would not have been able to govern for the past three years without The Greens, due to the minority parliament — but it doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

In 2010, more than 1.6 million Australians voted for The Greens, delivering them a record 10 MPs — including the first Greens Member for Melbourne, Adam Bandt. Using their newfound strength, The Greens successfully pushed for the introduction of Denticare (resulting in free dental health care for 3.4 million Australian kids) and action on climate change, and have been a strong and consistent voice for the rights of the disadvantaged in our community, from refugees to those on welfare. The Greens have also been the only party to fully support marriage equality in Parliament.

As a quick aside: one of the best things about our electoral system is preferential voting. It means that if people are disappointed with what the Labor Party has done on refugees, for example, they can vote for their local Greens candidate and preference Labor before the Coalition. This increases the chances of The Greens being elected, and ensures your vote won’t help Tony Abbott become Prime Minister. In many marginal seats across the country, The Greens are recommending voters preference the Labor Party to help stop the Coalition winning government.

Many undecided voters who are disappointed with the Labor Party are still supportive of their local Labor MP, arguing that they’re “one of the good guys”.  This sentiment is understandable, but the sad reality is that by re-electing MPs who have voted for policies that hurt the weakest in our communities, we aren’t fighting the conservative agenda that Abbott represents. In 2010, Adam Bandt showed how powerful changing your vote could be – by implementing Denticare, taking the first step to tackle climate, and protecting the rights of workers. Only one electorate out of 150 elected a Green in 2010, but the impact of that result reverberated around the country.

Electing more Greens MPs ensures a progressive voice in our parliament that will stand up to the attacks on the most vulnerable – whether they come from Labor, or from Tony Abbott.

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Osman Faruqi is a Sydney based writer. He edits Tharunka, and is currently campaigning for The Greens. You can follow him on Twitter at @oz_f.