Missing in action: Victorian Greens must do the hard yards

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This was published 12 years ago

Missing in action: Victorian Greens must do the hard yards

It's not just Baillieu's fancy footwork that has stifled the minor party, writes Farrah Tomazin.

By Farrah Tomazin

IT'S A a study in contrasts. Federally, Bob Brown and the Greens could not have asked for a better deal: a power-sharing alliance with Julia Gillard, a seat in the lower house, and from last week, sole balance of power in the new Senate.

In Victoria, the Greens appear to be missing in action. Seven months after the state election - where the party failed to win an inner-city seat from the ALP after Ted Baillieu preferenced them last - the Greens have almost disappeared from the political landscape.

Victoria's three Greens MPs, Sue Pennicuik, Greg Barber and Colleen Hartland.

Victoria's three Greens MPs, Sue Pennicuik, Greg Barber and Colleen Hartland.Credit: Wayne Taylor

There are still three MPs in the upper house - the same ones who catapulted the party into the Victorian Parliament in 2006. But while Greg Barber, Sue Pennicuik and Colleen Hartland work hard, they have so far been been pretty low-key when it comes to fighting the Baillieu government's agenda.

The same could be said of the environment: having campaigned against Labor's environmental credentials last year, barely a word of protest was heard when the Coalition abandoned the phased closure of Hazelwood, our ''dirtiest'' coal power plant, two months ago.

Back at head office, the party machine is bare, with key strategists now gone because there was not enough money to renew their contracts beyond the November poll. It's a pattern we have seen before. Every few years, as an election approaches, the Greens leap back into the public spotlight to remind voters they're there.

As polling day nears, the momentum builds: Twitter and Facebook start buzzing with new candidates, posters pop up across the inner city, and the battle intensifies for progressive voters and disillusioned Labor supporters alike.

Finally, polling day arrives, the Green tide rises - but not enough - and the party returns to a political hiatus.

But therein lies the rub for a minor party trying to achieve major party status. If the Greens are serious about being a credible force in Victorian politics it needs longer-term strategy. Resurfacing a few months out from an election promising higher ideals and begging for membership is not going to cut it any more.

The Greens are going to have to do the hard yards. First, they must articulate what they stand for. Apart from the environment, it's not always clear. Second, they must create good policies with clear plans on how to implement them.

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The Greens' refusal to have their election promises independently costed, for instance, does nothing to allay concerns about their economic credibility.

And third, they need professional staff and to build the party's infrastructure, and not just before each election. The Greens might be based on grassroots volunteers but it will need more strategic thinkers and a more co-ordinated approach if it wants to survive with the big boys. The November election was a turning point. It was meant to be a high watermark for the Victorian Greens, but in the end it halted their rise.

Buoyed by the success of the federal election, the Greens were hoping to oust Labor from Melbourne, Richmond, Brunswick, possibly even Northcote, on the back of Liberal preferences.

But in a political masterstroke that redefined the campaign, Baillieu decided to put the Greens last on the Liberals' how-to-vote cards.

Coalition MPs refer to that moment as ''the 2010 game changer''. Until then, Labor had tried to paint Baillieu as indecisive; his preference deal put an end to that.

The Greens largely have themselves to blame. As one insider told The Sunday Age: ''There were lots of people in the party that thought it would be 50-50 in terms of how the Liberals would go. The problem was, despite thinking that, we didn't really have a plan B.''

The future for the Victorian Greens is far from certain, especially now Baillieu has moved the goalposts.

As NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann wrote after the NSW state election this year: ''Until voters can picture us as a government in our own right, or as a key player in shaping a government, we will struggle to poll more than a few percentage points higher than we did.''

Still, NSW has an optional preferential voting system, and the Greens there managed to pick up their first lower house seat. For the Victorian Greens, that is years away.

Farrah Tomazin is state politics editor. twitter.com/farrahtomazin

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