The Greens will not have control of the senate until next year but strategists on both sides of the political divide are coming to terms with the party’s dramatically increased ability to influence policy and debate, writes Michelle Grattan.
Bob Brown
Follow Crikey’s latest coverage of Australian Greens leader Bob Brown. Crikey’s Bob Brown coverage includes independent news, blogs and commentary.
Kelly: The unethical and dangerous problem of euthanasia
Will the Gillard government become the first government in Australia to authorise legalised killing? They shouldn’t be pummelled into doing something by the Greens that much of the Western world disagrees with, writes Paul Kelly.
Climate committee is better without the Coalition
The Climate Committee announced by the Government yesterday will benefit from the absence of a disruptive and untrustworthy Opposition.
A (climate) change in the air
Crikey media wrap: It’s the first day back at school for all the enthusiastic parliamentary members, even though the class hasn’t voted on a deputy speaker yet. But Gillard turned up with a new climate change policy tucked into her lunch box.
Political snippets: Tyranny of the minority
Two or three per cent of voters who feel so strongly about an issue that they will change the way they vote because of it are far more worrying for an MP than the 97% of voters who, whatever their views on the issue, do not feel strongly enough about it to change their vote because of it.
Greens: flick go the shares when it comes to ABC coverage
In all the talk of new paradigms in the reporting of politics, one thing is surely true: much more attention should be paid to the Greens.
Gillard thanked us for being fair and balanced: The Oz editor
The Australian editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell claims Julia Gillard praised the paper’s “fair and balanced coverage”, dismissing renewed criticism from Bob Brown and press gallery veterans over its editorial agenda.
It’s just a jump to the Left
And thus, from the most tedious, uninspiring and insulting election campaign in Australian political history, emerges the most fascinating of results.
The Greens more Christian than Christians
Responding to a damning opinion piece by Cardinal George Pell, Bob Brown has swung back with a bible bashing counter-attack, arguing the Greens’ stance on many election issues are closer to biblical values than those espoused by Pell and his congregation.
Keane’s Talking Points: this election is now the Liberals’ to lose
The first two weeks of this campaign evidently started with Gillard being given ground Valium on her cereal every morning. As of today, she’s off the meds…
Grattan: We’re headed for a Green-wash
Greens’ leader Bob Brown is preparing his safe hands for the likely Greens’ balance of power in the Senate. This is a historical moment for the party, writes Michelle Grattan, and it could have a significant impact on government policy.
Crikey Says: Campaign Crikey morning edition: Day 11
“I think Tony Abbott is welcome to have his wife on the campaign trail but Julia Gillard has been subject to some quite nasty attacks by the opposition and in the media. And I’m frankly disgusted by it.”
Labor stuck between the miners and a Green place
With news that the smaller mining companies may begin advertising against the government’s proposed mining tax this weekend, the government appears caught between the Greens and the mining industry, writes Elizabeth Knight.
Crikey Says: These are the values which we hold dear
We want to know what you think about that oft-bandied-about term ‘Australian values’? Is it bunkum or is there something to it?
Election tracker: Day 2 – Gillard in north Queensland, Brown in Hobart & Abbott hits Melbourne
It’s day three of the campaign (or should that be day 4?) and the pollies are already clocking up the frequent flyer miles. Julia Gillard has racked up 3,742 km in the race so far (as the crow flies), while Tony Abbott has notched up a relatively paltry 1,421 km.
Brown goes bush to support farmers in a fight for land
The stakes in a farmer versus miner battle were lifted into the federal political arena yesterday, as Bob Brown challenged Julia Gillard to stop a proposed coal mine that local farmers claim would ruin their prime farm land, writes Amanda Gearing.
Crikey Says: The nation has spoken — it said ‘meh’
The nation is collectively suffering through a potentially fatal malaise, and it appears to be contagious.
Devine: Bob Brown, the green-eyed monster
With voters disillusioned by both major parties, the Greens may end up holding the balance of power in the Senate. Be careful of these “unaccountable, job-killing ideologues”, warns Miranda Devine.
Have the Greens gone off the rails?
Senator Bob Brown’s call for a new study on a very fast train between Melbourne-Canberra-Sydney risks provoking some fierce green negativity, since trains are powered by fossil carbon releasing coal fired power stations, writes Ben Sandilands.
Get out your green crayons: how to draw Bob Brown
SMH cartoonist Rocco Fazzari explains the art behind sketching Greens leader Bob Brown: keep your brush strokes left.
Taylor: How the Greens went mainstream
The Greens don’t want to be a demonstration dressed up as a political party, they want to be the best bet for keeping the balance of the power in the Senate. Their policies haven’t changed, just the way they pitch themselves, writes Lenore Taylor.
Stott Despoja: Winning Senate friends and influencing cross-bench people
Publicly attacking Senators who block government plans is a fairly novel way of winning their support, when all they need is a bit of charming, explains former senator Natasha Stott Despoja.
The Media Monitors' Top 20: Abbott’s strange days in the sun
Will a Liberal leader bashing big business work the way Labor leaders bashing unions sometimes has? And will his own party be able to keep quiet all the way to the election? Strange days indeed.
