Queensland may give Greens balance of power in the Senate

 The Australian


THE last Queensland senator who wasn't a Labor, Liberal or National party member was Andrew Bartlett from the Democrats, and he has since turned Green.


While national Greens leader senator Bob Brown dismisses any suggestion his party is simply taking up where the Democrats left off, the Greens nonetheless welcomed Bartlett with open arms.


Bartlett's move reflects a more significant shift in Australian politics, however, even if he doesn't win the lower house seat of Brisbane (he won't).


This shift is so significant it will almost certainly give Queensland - the state that gave rise to One Nation and its only senator, Len Harris - its first Greens senator at this election.


"This is more a result of the mainstream becoming green, rather than the Greens becoming mainstream," Brown says.

"Behind this is concern over climate change and the environment, the imbalance between the haves and have nots. The Greens are experts on those issues and it tells."

A successful campaign by Queensland Greens Senate candidate Larissa Waters would not only help nationalise the party but diversify Queensland politics.


With the 2008 merger of the state Nationals and Liberals into a right-leaning Liberal National Party, the Left of politics is the most fertile ground in the Sunshine State and voters who have moved from interstate have an open mind.


Brown believes the state election results in Tasmania and South Australia reflect growing voter support for the party. He is confident the Greens will add to their complement of five senators to hold the balance of power in the Senate after the election.


While the main parties and sections of the media have denigrated the Greens as a left-wing rabble, Brown believes their ability to negotiate outcomes in the Senate this term demonstrates to voters they are professional and capable.


Traditionally, the Greens have been political king-makers in Queensland, directing preferences to the party (Labor) it judges to have the best policies.


If you believe Brown, and many Australians certainly think highly of him, voters want the Greens to be more involved. In Queensland there has been no shortage of issues for the Greens to get involved in, no shortage of duels between environmentalists and developers, Aborigines, fishers, miners or farmers.


Not surprisingly, federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has also been active, perhaps doing his bit to ensure Green preferences again flow Labor's way.


While the Queensland Greens still directed preferences to Labor at the last state election despite plans for a Traveston dam, Garrett last year blocked the project.


While Nationals senator Ron Boswell uses every election to campaign against Labor government fishing restrictions - Queensland's fishers have a vibrant political movement - Garrett this week announced he would consider 2.4 million sq km of ocean, spanning most of Australia's east coast, for marine protection zones.


While Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson has managed to convince federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to join his campaign against Queensland's Wild Rivers laws, Garrett refuses to get involved, although he has promised indigenous communities Cape York would not be nominated for the World Heritage List without their approval.


Garrett wouldn't be so openly green if he weren't confident of being supported by the broader community.

This week, the Queensland Greens criticised the Bligh government for opening up the Surat Basin to mining, at the expense of prime agricultural land, no less.

Farming v mining is a hot topic in itself, but the Greens highlight another big challenge for Garrett: whether to support the multi-billion-dollar liquefied natural gas export industry proposed for central Queensland and near Curtis Island in the port of Gladstone on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef.


Garrett, of course, approved the Gorgon LNG development off the West Australia coast, but an unrelated oil spill in the region has environmental groups particularly sensitive, and they are not the only ones questioning Australia's over-reliance on the mining industry.


For all the focus on health at the moment, which seems to have replaced the economy at the top of the political agenda, the environment cannot be ignored.


The Copenhagen summit may have been an anti-climax, the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme may be on hold, but that has just left community angst simmering without an outlet.


The recent talk of population caps notably seizes on the keyword of sustainability, which has a role in everything discussed in Australia post-global financial crisis, and provides an overarching campaign strategy for the Greens.


Brown says support for the Greens in regional areas is almost equal to the city, so the party has become broadly based.


"We are now not only Australia's third political party but have much more support across the nation than the Nationals do," he says.


In a swipe at independent senator Nick Xenophon and Family First's Steven Fielding, Brown also promises the next government will find it easier dealing with just the Greens, rather than "a number of other entities".


"I've been in balance of power situations much more than either Kevin Rudd or Tony Abbott so I'm comfortable and relaxed," he says.


At 65 and with no plans to retire, Brown, it seems, will be entrusted with the job of deciding whether next government succeeds or fails.