NSW Greens' proposal
Following a July 6 meeting of NSW Green organisations, there are now two proposals for a national meeting to discuss formation of a green party. The NSW meeting proposed a national meeting on August 17-18 in Sydney. The Brisbane-based Australian Green Working Group had earlier suggested a meeting in November.
The NSW meeting had been "noted with interest" in anticipation by the five "conveners" in their June 18 letter announcing postponement of their August 3-4 national meeting. They felt "hopeful that a fresh initiative" would emerge after this meeting.
The meeting consisted of 27 members of seven local Green parties. It proposed that the mid-August meeting should "explore and develop a structure of a national Green organisation".
Delegates should support some form of national organisation of autonomous local parties and agree to some form of proscription of other parties, "either immediately or under a sunset clause". Possible forms of proscription could include total proscription, associate membership and proscription of delegates.
The recommendations of the August meeting would be taken back to local groups, and the meeting might consider setting up a working group. It would be followed by another gathering in November to air local feedback and consider further steps.
The meeting would consist of registered and unregistered Green groups and parties, each having one voting delegate. Observers would be welcome.
Discussion at the July 6 meeting was lengthy, with some strange conceptions of democracy emerging. The Illawarra Greens distinguished themselves by revealing that they had proscribed members of other parties without informing members of the Democratic Socialist Party who had participated in the group almost from its foundation, who had assisted in its work as recently as the May 25 NSW elections and one of whom had been asked by the group to stand on its local government election ticket. Affected DSP members were not informed that there was to be a meeting to discuss their exclusion, and only heard of the decision in the local newsletter several weeks later.
Meanwhile, the Brisbane-based AGWG has challenged the NSW proposal. Apparently not so hopeful as the five conveners for a "fresh initiative" from the NSW meeting, they write: "We have been most surprised to receive from Doug Hine [signatory of the NSW proposal] an invitation to an August
meeting which not only does not acknowledge our proposal, it also does not reflect it".
AGWG challenges the NSW proposal's use of the five conveners' names and the invitation list for the meeting on the grounds that it is weighted towards NSW and WA, where most Green electoral organisations exist. It argues for a minimum of five delegates per state.
AGWG also appears to favour a centralist organisation: "We believe that the wording in Doug Hine's letter, 'local autonomous green parties' preempts a decision to be made ... The phrase is ambiguous but would seem to indicate a preference for a network or alliance structure rather than a party. If this is the case, we would strongly oppose this unilateral decision." NSW activists have responded that the wording reflects the situation that has existed in NSW for several years and is very unlikely to change, though other states are free to make their own choices.
AGWG proposes an "urgent consultative teleconference" on these and other matters for August 4.
ACT Rainbow joins Democrats
The Australian Capital Territory branch of the Rainbow Alliance has decided to join the Australian Democrats. This appears to be a one-off decision by a small branch of the organisation rather than a general movement likely to affect larger Rainbow branches in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.
A July 25 Australian Financial Review article reporting the decision also quotes Democrat Senator Janet Powell as saying that Tasmanian MP Bob Brown has been working hard to bring Democrats and greens together. It adds that Democrat officials estimate that the Green vote is now around 20% of the electorate.