Milne learns it’s not easy being Green

IN his farewell speech to the National Press Club, former Greens leader Bob Brown rejected the lament of the philosopher puppet, Kermit the Frog, who sang “it’s not easy being green”.

But these days Greens leader Christine Milne must be identifying more with Kermit than with Bob, who led the Greens to the peak of their success.

Rather than supplanting Labor as the dominant party of the Left as Brown predicted, the Greens are sliding back to their erstwhile position on the fringes of politics as support in the electorate plummets at a rapid rate.

After lifting their vote in the House of Representatives from 7.8 per cent in 2007 to 11.8 per cent in 2010, in subsequent electoral contests the Greens have inflated expectations only to see them crushed by reality.

The local council elections held across NSW on Saturday are the latest blow to the Greens. In the key Labor-Greens battlegrounds of Leichhardt, Marrickville and Sydney, the Greens were smashed with swings of 7-11 per cent.

In the eastern Sydney councils of Randwick, Waverley and Woollahra they suffered swings of 7-12 per cent.

In other areas across Sydney such as Auburn and Ashfield, and on the central coast, in the Blue Mountains and in the Hunter, the Greens vote collapsed.

It was a comprehensive rejection of the Greens across almost all areas, from the inner city to the suburbs and the regions to the country, linking every possible socioeconomic voter cohort.

After winning the federal Labor seat of Melbourne in 2010 with Liberal Party preferences, the Greens also wrested the state Labor seat of Balmain at the NSW election last year, this time with Labor preferences. Many expected the Greens to continue to collect electoral trophies throughout this year. In February, the Greens contested the South Australian by-elections for the state seats of Ramsay and Port Adelaide. In Ramsay, the Greens were polling 9 per cent ahead of the election, but received only 6.6 per cent of the vote. In Port Adelaide, despite polling 12 per cent, the Greens vote fell to 5.6 per cent. Labor held both seats.

At the Queensland state election in March, the Greens vote fell by 0.8 per cent to just 7.5 per cent. Although Labor suffered a 15 per cent swing, the Greens failed to boost their vote. In a direct contest with Labor in the Melbourne state by-election in July, the Greens won 36.5 per cent of the primary vote to Labor’s 33.4 per cent. Although hardly a good result for Labor, the Greens were expected to win comfortably. Labor held the seat on preferences.

At last month’s Northern Territory election, despite Labor suffering a 7 per cent swing, the Greens vote declined by 1 per cent to a miserable 3.3 per cent.

At the recent Heffron by-election in southern Sydney Labor demolished the Greens, winning 58.9 per cent of the primary vote to the Greens’ 23.3 per cent.

via Milne learns it’s not easy being Green | The Australian.

Councillor says fund-raising forum gave $22,000 to Lib MP’s campaign

More details are emerging on why the liberal party decided to not endorse any Fairfield liberal candidates

 

FEDERAL and state MPs have benefited from tens of thousands of dollars collected by a fund-raising body linked to Liberals in south-west Sydney which has been referred to election funding authorities for investigation.

Frank Oliveri, a Fairfield councillor close to the organisation, the South West Business Forum, has broken his silence over the whereabouts of some of about $35,000 raised at a 2007 event attended by Tony Abbott and Helen Coonan.

Cr Oliveri has revealed that at least $22,000 went to the political campaign of the then federal Liberal MP for Macarthur, Pat Farmer.

About $7000 is believed to have been given in cash and cash cheques to NSW Liberal MPs and used for funding party memberships and election campaigns, but Cr Oliveri would not confirm this.

via Councillor says fund-raising forum gave $22,000 to Lib MP’s campaign.