The Greens’ Agenda

[The complete text has now been published in Quadrant, January/Feb 2011 edition. Read “The Green’s Agenda, in Their Own Words” here…]

Australian parliamentarian Kevin Andrews sets the scene for the long overdue examination of the Greens’ program and strategies in this country: 

The Greens Agenda: Part 1 – Western culture and the Greens 

For many years, the Greens have been treated as a political curiosity. They could win a spot or two in the Senate, but they were absent from the real place of political power, the House of Representatives. That has now changed. Not only will they have more senators from July next year, they also have a seat in the House. More significantly, they are in a formal alliance with the minority Labor government nationally and in Tasmania. 

Despite the emphasis on the environment, “the Greens are not a single issue party.” Their objective is clear: “to transform politics and bring about Green government.” The Australian Greens are part of a worldwide movement that is actively engaged in the political process. As their writings state, this objective involves a radical transformation of the culture that underpins western civilization. As a political party, they should be treated like any other political party and subjected to the same scrutiny. 

In order to fully comprehend the Greens’ political ideology, it is necessary to understand the historical roots and foundations of both our own western, liberal democratic culture – and that of the Greens. It this address, I propose to explain the Greens agenda, as set out in their own documents and writings. The paper has three parts: First, a brief examination of the roots of western culture and the origins of the Greens; secondly, an analysis of the Greens ideology; and thirdly, a discussion of the Greens economic, social and other policies. 

The complete text has now been published in Quadrant, January/Feb 2011 edition. Read “The Green’s Agenda, in Their Own Words” here…