This is almost tragic. Murdoch’s Australian newspaper has spent years demonising the Greens for extremism and much else and yet despite the wise counsel of Rupert support for the party is surging. So what to do for the little Murdoch minions? Slam the Greens more, claim they are “far Left” (a supposedly problematic term) and urge a vote for a major party, despite both Labor and Liberal being part of the problem in our system. Over to you, desperadoes:
For most Greens, the right course is to oppose every new mine and housing development and to call for a steady-state economy where our standard of living never improves because growth emits carbon, consumes natural resources and disturbs obscure wildlife. But there are others among the Greens who see environmentalists as idealists to enlist in causes with a harder ideological edge. Greens NSW senate candidate Lee Rhiannon, no special friend to Senator Brown, asserts her environmental credentials but also has a heritage on the far Left, which was condemning capitalism long before anybody was upset about carbon emissions. Given that the Greens will obstruct and impede legislation on every issue, electors interested in stable government should vote for one of the major parties in both houses. In all but one or two seats in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne, a vote for the Greens in the House of Representatives is a wasted ballot. And in the Senate, supporting the Greens is a vote against effective administration and a vote for stalled legislation — whoever is the prime minister after the election.