The Labor-Greens agreement – is Bob Brown serious?
Posted by John, September 2nd, 2010 - under Labor Party, The Greens.
The Greens have completely capitulated to the Labor Party.
According to Emma Rodgers, in her ABC News website article Greens, Labor seal deal, the concessions secured by the Greens include:
- the formation of a climate change committee
- a parliamentary debate on Afghanistan
- a referendum on recognising Indigenous Australians
- restrictions on political donations
- legislation on truth in political advertising
- the establishment of a Parliamentary Budget Committee
- a parliamentary integrity commissioner
- improved processes for release of documents in Parliament
- a leaders debates Commission
- a move towards full three-year parliamentary terms
- two-and-a-half hours of allocated debate for private members’ bills
- access for Greens to various Treasury documents
Is that all? Here is a party which holds the balance of power in the Senate and could be instrumental in who forms Government, and they demand future negotiations, and ignore the big questions.
Where is the action on climate change? Their much vaunted price on carbon? What about the humane treatment of refugees? Same-sex marriage? Denticare now? Nothing. Zilch. Zip . Except to have talks about talks in never never land. So for example there will be $20 million set aside for a study into high speed light rail. Wow. That’s progress!
Here are some of the demands I suggested in my article Greens: make the parliament unworkable that the Greens could make from their position of power.
The immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
A super profits tax on the miners to fund denticare, public health, education and transport.
A massive tax on the polluters, with the green cheque to be used to lift the poor out of poverty.
A massive program of green jobs and green retraining as needed.
An immediate price freeze on electricity costs.
An end to demonising boat people both in words and actions and their processing onshore and release into the community.
A viable same-sex marriage regime.
The abolition of the anti-worker Fair Work Act and the Australian Building and Construction Commission and the empowerment of unions in the workplace and of their struggles to win better wages and conditions and protect and create jobs.
An end to the racist Northern Territory intervention, recognition of prior aboriginal sovereignty and the signing of a treaty, coupled with more spending under the control of communities to address aboriginal disadvantage.
An immediate increase in pensions and other social security payments by $100 a week.
An immediate increase in the minimum wage of $100 a week.
A massive program of Government solar and wind farms and other renewable energy programs to generate enough energy to turn off the coal fired power stations by 2020.
Huge tax increases and new taxes on the rich to pay for these socially necessary spending programs.
Rigorous price controls over big business.
The surrender means the Greens didn’t even get halfway decent commitments. They have betrayed their millions of voters.
They have abandoned their reforming project in the interests of bourgeois stability and good government. This is code for letting Labor continue its neoliberal agenda.
Here is what the agreement means if we let the Greens get away with this complete sellout.
In 3 years time there will still be nothing done on climate change, the dead in Afghanistan will have doubled, denticare won’t be ‘affordable’, people who love each other won’t be able to marry if they are gays or lesbians, our aboriginal brothers and sisters will be dying 20 years earlier than the rest of us, refugees will be locked up in concentration camps and the miners and big polluters will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Unlike Judas the Greens didn’t even get their 30 pieces of silver. They got a worthless piece of paper.
The Labor-Green agreement shows that the need for a real fighting alternative to Labor and the Greens is greater than ever.
Let’s build a socialist alternative to eventually lead the fight for real action on climate change, for refugees, for same-sex marriage, for getting the troops out of Afghanistan, taxing the rich and improving the lives of the poor and working class.
That is a fight that to be successful must be waged in our workplaces and on the streets, not in the talks fests of Parliament.
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Comments
Comment from Nick Nack
Time September 2, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Pissweak ‘criticism’. Theyre not even in power yet, trying to negotiate to convince the remaining conservative Independents to side with them (or would you prefer Abbott got the job?) and all the socialist alternatives can do is cry over Marx and spout gob-shite about the bourgesie. You idiots shoot yourself in the foot worse than Abbott does when you unleash abitrary figures like “$100″
Give up, Stalin is dead, the ‘fight’ has moved on since 1880, there will be no revolution – deal with it.
Comment from mhab
Time September 3, 2010 at 12:39 am
You are right. The Greens aren’t socialist. As a Green supporter, it is always rather annoying to see other groups regarding the Greens as traitors to them. Labor, particularly at state level, seem to think they own the Greens, and get annoyed when they are disobedient. The Liberals growl if the Greens seem to favour Labor. And now socialists seem to think the Greens aren’t sufficiently radical! Presumably you don’t feel betrayed when the Liberals don’t advocate revolution?
Comment from John
Time September 3, 2010 at 7:40 am
Thanks Nick Nack. Stalin? WTF has that got to do with it, but since you raise it many in my political tradition were murdered in droves for their heroic stand against the dictatorship. I am arguing, if you could understand the article, that the Greens are selling out their own positions. Good to know you reject giving pensioners and others on social security any more money. Stick with the mining bosses mate. And of course struggle is dead – look at South Africa and Greece. Quiet aren’t they? You mistake the present for the future.
Comment from John
Time September 3, 2010 at 7:41 am
Mhab, I am not arguing the Greens are socialist. I am arguing they will not fight for their own program. They aren’t.
Comment from Marco
Time September 4, 2010 at 10:39 am
People often criticize socialism without even bothering to actually understand WTF socialism is.
True, it can be criticized, it is not perfect. But to thoughtlessly repeat the “Stalin” bullshit as if Stalinism was the only and unique exponent of socialism is plainly ridiculous and more indicative of absolute ignorance.
So, people, by all means, criticize away… after reading a real critique of socialism.
Yugoslav Economic Theory
Ernest Mandel – Internet Archive
Monthly Review, April 1967, pages 40-49
http://www.ernestmandel.org/en/works/txt/1967/yugoslav_economic_theory.htm
Comment from Ben Courtice
Time September 4, 2010 at 10:44 am
I think your shrill denunciation is premature, John. If they fail to advocate for their policies when there is a government in place, then I might start to criticise. But in the circumstances, even if I might do differently in the same place, it is hardly unexpected for the Greens to put in place measures to support a Labor government. Let subsequent experience show their sellout or otherwise, not your shopping list of demands.
Comment from John
Time September 4, 2010 at 11:02 am
Thanks Ben. Shrill? I love this idea that to criticise the Greens is sectarian, shrill or whatever. As for ‘my’ shopping list of demands, most of them are from the Greens website or greens announced positions. I am listing what from the Greens’ own agenda they haven’t yet put on the table. AT the first whiff of gunpowder they go missing in action. I don’t think reformism has a future or that it can produce progressive reforms given the stagnant profit rates of the West and the failure of parliament to produce significant progressive change without mass movements. Putting that view about the Greens and their actions, actions even some in the MSM recognise as pretty pathetic and are shocked by, is perfectly legitimate for a socialist.
Comment from Nick Nack
Time September 4, 2010 at 11:32 am
Mhab – you got it in one.
No one is left enough for the Revolutionary Socialists, yet theyre too gutless to put themselves on the line. You cant even take any of the quasi religious garbage they spout with a pinch of salt – its all pie in the sky straight for the trash bin.
Q. How many Revolutionary Socialists does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. None – Theyd rather organise a rally to demand someone else do it for them.
Comment from A NON FARMER
Time September 4, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Dear John,
Re your – “They got a worthless piece of paper.”
Many years ago Chamberlain brought a worthless piece of paper back from a meeting with Hitler.
Yet his worthless scrap contained words of agreement (“Peace in our Time”) that bought time.
Time enough for Chamberlain to be vilified while British armed forces and industry were modernised and mobilised after decades of neglect.
I’ve never seen anything in the literature about what it cost poor Neville to be nice to Mr. Hitler – but he did and to good purpose.
So where is the harm in giving Bob Brown and for that matter Andrew Wilkie the time to muster their own troops and assets, define the rules of engagement and get into the job?
At this stage in any case they don’t even know who their adversary will be, the steadfastness of their colleagues, or the parity of the opponents.
Comment from John
Time September 4, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Thanks Nick Nack for such an intelligent and erudite comment. Take your hand off it.
Comment from John
Time September 4, 2010 at 6:05 pm
It’s an interesting analogy A NON FARMER. However I suspect this is not an attempt to gather the forces but an abject surrender before even the first angry shot has been fired. Their whole focus is Parliament, not mobilising the extra-parliamentary forces which could win real gains.We shall see. Maybe they will surprise me and the troops will be home tomorrow, there will be a tax on the polluters and rich miners, refugees will be treated humanely and same sex marriage legalised. I won’t be holding my breath even if the Greens can influence Labor.
Comment from Nick Nack
Time September 5, 2010 at 9:14 am
No worries John, will do when you put your money where your mouth is and try and do better rather than just slagging and bitching from the sidelines. There’s a good reason no one takes Revolutionary Socialists seriously.
Comment from Auntie Rhoberta
Time September 2, 2010 at 8:40 pm
The Greens got on the gravy train!