Greenwash Political Action Party and Urban Grassroots Movement for the Green Party

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Family First Flops

It’s good to know that the Family First Party have nothing better to do than attack the Greens.

The one media release from the Party's campaign launch today was this –“EXTREME GREENS ARE ANTI-FAMILY AND ANTI-BUSINESS”

Looking through their media releases over the last month in Victoria you can see a trend emerging. Family First have issued four releases since October 10th and three of them are about the Greens. The focus is of course sex and drugs. What is it about these Howard worshiping types?

But the 'leader' of Family First, Mr Fielding, might do better to focus on his Senate responsibilities where I am told he has missed at least 1/3 of the votes in chamber since he took up his post as a Senator in 2005.

posted by Ben Oquist # 10:04 PM 4 comments

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Busted arse countries

I just listened to another radio interview filled with patronising posturing about how Australia has to deal with all these failed states in the region.

With Prime Minister Howard copping a caning at the Pacific Island Forum on in Nadi there is a lot that kind of talk. The overuse of phrases like 'busted arse country' is the expression of a nasty superiority complex.

For a more informed perspective that looks at Australia's historical responsibilities, have a read of this wonderful article - "Kicking our old colony in the guts" - (at Online Opinion) from one the favorites on benoquist.com, Chris Harries.

At the same website see the devastating article by Ron Crocombe "Australia's own history of apartheid".

posted by Ben Oquist # 5:59 PM 2 comments

Monday, October 23, 2006

How the environment movement has won the battle but could lose the war

This is an edited version of piece first published by www.crikey.com.au

So this is what a victory looks like. The environment movement’s arguments about climate change have not only been accepted, but have been embraced. Mel and Kochie’s move to back mass public protest on the issue shows how breathtakingly fast and complete the turnaround had been.

But just as the debate is won, there are real dangers that in Australia the environment movement and the Greens could lose the war.

Senator Bill Heffernan’s entry into the debate marked a dangerous turn. Heffernan argues that the climate change priority is to help farmers reeling from the impacts of drought to move North where there is likely to be an increase in rainfall.

With a massive budget surplus and the Government desperate to be seen to be doing something on climate change, Howard could announce a series of farmer-focused climate packages in the run to the 2007 election that pork barrels a key constituency and sidelines the Greens.
In a sense Howard would be moving beyond acting to prevent dangerous climate change to an ‘adaptation’ phase in which the government provides ‘solutions’ to the consequences of global warming. Dennis Shanahan gave the PM’s plans a push along on Saturday when he declared that Howard wasn’t going Green, instead Howard was ‘browning the Greens’.

The environment movement will need to confront this issue if it is to successfully prevent Howard hijacking the urgency of the issue with a farmer friendly pitch or his dangerous nuclear push.

Part of the problem to date has been a failure in simple messaging about what needs to be done to cut greenhouse pollution and avoid dangerous climate change. Some argue Kyoto is the answer, some want a carbon tax, others ‘feed-in laws’, some carbon trading and other prioritise a renewable energy target. Meanwhile the Government argues ‘technology’ is the solution and offers the dangerous option of nuclear power while the coal industry has been touting the Orwellian phrase ‘clean coal’. With so many ‘solutions’ proposed, it is too easy for none of them to cut through.

But the real danger comes from within. Some in the environment movement will be tempted to settle with some small concessions from Howard. It will be easy for some environment groups to peel off from the mainstream and do a deal with Howard that would give huge environment credibility to the Government and result in a massive missed opportunity to achieve real change. With the tsunami of community concern currently hitting politicians, now is not the time to be settling for half measures.

The big Walk Against Warming protests on November 4th around the country (now backed by Mel and Kochie), mark the beginning of a new protest push that will help prevent Howard controlling the debate.

While this week’s $230m announcement from Howard regarding the low emission technology fund is just the detail of a 2004 announcement, we are undoubtedly about to see a rash of new greenhouse policy announcements from state and Federal Governments and Oppositions.
When looking for tests to judge whether these policies match their rhetoric here are some simple tests:
- Is there a commitment to legislation that guarantees a 60-90% cut in greenhouse pollution that scientists say we need by 2050 to avoid dangerous climate change?
- Will there be a legislated medium term target of say 20% by 2020 to ensure action now?
- Is there a renewable energy target like those being adopted in Victoria and SA?
- And is there a commitment to address coal exports which are by far Australia’s biggest contribution to global greenhouse emissions?

Unless the environment movement and the Greens keep these goals at the forefront of the debate it will mean that while the argument is won, the war to cut pollution will be lost.

posted by Ben Oquist # 1:41 PM 1 comments

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Al Gore training

Al Gore is coming back to Australia in November. ACF is offering a great opportunity for 75 people to meet and be trained by him over a couple of days in Sydney.

The idea is that people would then be fully equipped to go out and present the type of power point presentation that features in the film Inconvenient Truth.

More information available at the ACF website. Applications close 30 Oct 2006.

posted by Ben Oquist # 11:49 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Zonggonau's death

The following is a piece I discussed on 2SER breakfast and first published by Crikey. Wim had already become a great friend during his time in Australia and I miss him already.

Why ‘The Right’ should embrace West Papua

The shock death in Sydney on Monday of West Papuan leader Willem (Wim) Zonggonau is tragic – but it also reminds of why West Papuans will continue to flee the province and why The Right should welcome it.

Wim was on a public speaking tour of Australia with his West Papuan colleague Clemens Runawery, and had met several politicians in Canberra as well as academics and West Papuan supporters around the country.

Wim was a human rights campaigner, a historian, and independence activist but at heart what he was most was a democrat.

He yearned, like so many West Papuans, for a free and fair vote in the province so that the people of West Papua could determine their own future.

This is why we shouldn’t be surprised by Geoff Thompson’s revelations on the ABC that more West Papuan independence activists might be coming to Australia. And why The Right should be welcoming it.

The West Papuan independence leaders want their people to be able to determine their own future rather than having it imposed from Jakarta.

Their’s is a deeply human struggle – the will to freedom. It is a principle supposedly at the heart of right wing ideology, but so often lacking in reality.

Now that it has been revealed that the recently arrived 43 West Papuan refugees had planned their trip to Australia – selecting those most likely to be persecuted - we are no doubt set for another round of West Papuan bashing from the likes of right wing intellectuals like Gerard Henderson (previous columns here and here). John Howard has started and Kim Beazley has cranked up his inane chant for a coast guard – something that has the potential to help turn West Papua into a kind of death camp.

But there is a reason independence leaders planed their trip to Australia. Those most likely to face persecution in West Papua are those who strive for independence.

And why is it that independence activists are the most likely to be in genuine fear of persecution in their homeland? Because the only way that West Papua can be kept part of Indonesia is by force. The Indonesian military knows it can not let people freely express their beliefs and desires – for to do so would only accelerate the move to independence.

For years there has been too little attention paid to the plight of West Papuans. But globalisation is a force that even the brutality of the Indonesian military can not hold back. Communications with those inside West Papua will only get easier as technology gets smaller, lighter, and cheaper. Journalists will increasingly get in.

With transparency comes freedom. Freedom leads to democracy and in West Papua democracy means independence.

Wim Zonggonau was a democrat at heart. It’s a shame that so many on The Right leave their belief in democracy at the door when it comes to looking over the fence to our near neighbour.

They should have spent some time with Wim Zonggonau. They would have learnt a lot. The small handful of journalists, Labor, Green and independent politicians who took the time to talk to Wim in Canberra last month will be glad they did.

posted by Ben Oquist # 3:59 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

NSW Government's media release fiasco

Listeners to "Greenwash", the short segment I do with Cam Woods on 2SER each Wednesday morning, will be aware of the NSW Government's secretive approach to media releases.

The SMH chief NSW political reporter, Anne Davies, has picked up on the story with a clever column on the topic this week.

The more I think about it, the more ridiculously wrong it is. Media releases are the official word of Government. To deny the public access to them is to undermine the basic building blocks of democracy.

The fiasco has to stop. C'mon Mr Iemma be a man and step out of Bob Carr's shadowy ways.

posted by Ben Oquist # 8:01 AM 0 comments