We are watching the long overdue death of 'rogressive' politic's in Australia. They are undermining themselves as they have whenever they've gained power anywhere in the world.

While the Labor Party will tear itself apart, and lose support left and right, the focus on the more loony progressive nature of the Greens platforms will ensure their electoral demise. Reasonable genuine enviromentalists, especially the young, will desert both them and the self-destructing Labor.

We'll have sensible conservative policies and governments, which will include a sensible and attractive enviromental focus, for several generations now.

Only the intellectual effete would consider the party bag of populist policies that the greens offer as principles. The linking of the greens and Labor has enabled the coalition to reclaim the centre ground.

The greens clearly owe their positions of power to preferences.
When they signed up to the alliance with Labour, they signed up to progressing Labour policies.
They simply failed to follow that formula!
In effect, they tore up their alliance.
If green intransigence continues, the end result will be the reinstitution of the former Howard govt policies.
People will be resettled, and accorded temporary protection.
There will be no family reunion.
A compromised and vastly more humane position will be lost.
Politics is the art of the possible and some progress.
A 7-12% support base, on its own, would likely result in just 2-3 senate seats and irrelevance?
We confront the very real possibility of another Great Depression.
We simply cannot should not pursue loony tune policies at this time, that lock up and throw away the key on essential energy resources, possibly worth many multiple trillions, or policies that virtually force economic contraction, job losses and the loss of entirely essential manufacturing capacity!
The greens should stand on their own two feet and stand or fall entirely on their own policy paradigms, not convenient and often very temporary pseudo or torn up alliances!
And on that basis, why then should they expect either the vox populi or the major parties to remain loyal to them.
The greens had a unique opportunity to progress their party's future fortunes and popular local support, with things like gay marriage getting critical major party support.
We have seen how the return of conservative parties have dealt that sill tenuous support, a very cruel blow.
The greens will not succeed or continue to block govt policy, nor progress their own agenda, on their own.
They need to recognise that fact and move very quickly to mend all the bridges they seem to be burning, with pragmatic compromise, however unpalatable, to simply honour their alliance agreements!
After all, Labour can hardly be further harmed!
Rhrosty.

When a toilet overflows, you call in a plumber, & get the thing fixed. Of course a seldom used or looked at toilet, like the one down the bottom of the garden, may overflow for some time, before the smell or sight of the mess brings correction.

Greens, do be careful. You are getting so noisy that more people are looking your way. Soon enough will have noticed the developing mess, to call the plumber.

The self delusion, exhibited in this piece, shows you think you are something more than all the little annoying parties that have appeared & disappeared, with out much trace over the years.

Obviously assisted by the incompetence of the red witch, you have advanced further than you should have, but don't bet your shirt on this continuing. Once the distraction of the red witch is gone, the full attention of the people will turn to you.

The evidence of your policies forced on Labor will be seen, & your demise will be much faster than other such rumps have suffered in the past. At least it won't be a lingering death, but it will be merciless.

We are seeing the effect on voters of a party having a nasty viscous leader, especially a female one, can do to a parties standing & vote. This is just one more cardinal sin you have committed. Every time she speaks in the media it helps build the tsunami that will sweep you away.

What do they teach you people in these courses you are doing? It can't be too practical.

If I were advising the Gillard govt, I'd advise them to load up the double dissolution trigger then pull it three or four months before the election!
This and not preferencing the greens, will be seen as a sign of strength, from a govt that thus far has protected Australia from the GFC. I would further advise them to further separate/differentiate themselves from the Greens and their economic contraction policy paradigms, by forecasting, a re-elected Gillard/Labour govt, was prepared to allow the exploration and exploitation of the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea, for a probable bonanza of hydrocarbon resources that would likely earn multiple trillions PA; for years to come, and provide enough essential wealth to convert our nation to a carbon neutral one far sooner than might be the case.
The fact that these resources would likely result in four times less hydrocarbon release, than current conventional supplies, and act, to assure our allies, of lower cost, lower carbon producing energy supplies, would simply help us, them and the environment.
Think, all food production has an energy component, as does manufacture, food processing harvesting, wealth and job creation.
We can help this by transferring some of our food production to other places with far better water resources!
And convert much or our traditional farming areas to very low water use alga and the bio-diesel farming, production and continuing energy independence!
The Greens agenda, as I read it, is to make everything more expensive, without ever increasing our capacity to pay for it!
In other words, create a society where for the first time, the children will be far less prosperous than their parents!
Necessary, they claim, to stop us and or the world from consuming so much carbon creating energy?
Ignoring/discounting the fact that we have many forms of energy that can be produced at lower cost than current fossil fuel supplied power. [Wave and mass produced solar thermal for starters!]
Converting to that alternative and often argued against, power is not difficult; albeit, will cost more initially, or at least until usage/economies of scale prevail.
Rhrosty.

If it was not for progessive politics in all of its multi-various forms, with all of its warts, failings and limitations, ALL human beings in the Western world would still be controlled by the tyranny of the "catholic" church, or the christian church altogether as a state imposed "religion".
People could still be imprisoned and/or executed for dissent, blasphemy, heresy, apostasy etc etc. Or even for wearing colorful clothes, singing, dancing or having fun. As in Calvin's theocratic fascist mini-state in Geneva.