I was a founding member of the first Green party in Australia, in Brisbane in 1984. Some people dispute this claim (to be the first Green party) but they are wrong. I, like many around the nation from that time on, had a vision of a party that would tackle environmental issues and social justice politics together. I, like many others around the nation still have that vision and have been heartened by the rise of the Greens to this point. However, today I am prepared to accuse the Greens of forgetting about the poor, of getting too caught up in the climate ‘opportunities" mantras of the World Bank, Al Gore and Ross Garnaut and failing to factor the poor into climate change policy.
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Sovereignty and Aboriginal control of Aboriginal affairs is not just a campaign slogan but the very essence of the Aboriginal struggle, just as relevant to the mode of political organization of grass roots action groups as it is to government legislation.
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The Rudd government’s policy objective of closing the life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and non Aboriginal Australians is as hollow as Bob Hawke’s proclamation “By 1990, no Australian child will be living in poverty”. Just cheap words with no real program to achieve or even move towards the goal.
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The working class did not develop in Australia as in Europe. We were imposed here.
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