CJ

Tiny link didn't work.

But, hey, finally mainstream people are getting that we have to care for the planet that sustains us. Predict greater Greens presence after next federal election.

Thanks Severin. That's weird, it works for me but they have changed the Tiny URL site... bugger. Here's the full URL in all its glory:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/queensland-may-give-greens-balance-of-power-in-the-senate/story-e6frgczf-1225846158881

Obviously, I agree with your comment.

Link worked just fine, CJ

The Greens are certainly filling the void left by the Democrats - more and more they are gaining the numbers to 'keep the bastards honest'. Even better, the Greens were not formed from an essentially conservative background, being more progressive and open to alternatives.

I can't believe Bob Brown is 65 - seems way younger, certainly his mindset is more flexible than either the rusted-in views of Rudd or Abbott.

Are the Greens sustainable? Australian politics is little more than a plutocracy without them.

C J Morgan, "you obviously haven't got a clue about the Greens' electoral strategies."

Heh, heh, did Nick McKim made you his confidant?

However the electoral strategy was as plain as the nose on your face C J. As the article you linked to says, Nick McKim deliberately kept the old Greens 'icons' - examples being Bob Brown and Christine Milne - well out of Tas during the election so McKim could talk up 'accountability', 'stability', and 'working constructively' and 'transparently'. Even a recently converted foot soldier to the Greens such as yourself should be able to nut that out. To use your overworked phrase, you are in denial.

C J Morgan, "Suffice to say that Bob Brown and Nick McKim work very closely and well together."

Goodness, should that finger tapping the side of your nose be taken as an indication that you are privy to their opinions and confidences, C J? Tell us more.

It is nonsense to assert that the five Greens senators shouldn't be accountable for their own policies and performance because "the Greens are neither a corporation nor in government" (CJM). They are responsible to the electorate not just their party and the small percentage of voters who put them there.

The cost of maintaining five senators is in the millions and that is not counting the ongoing costs of their superannuation and other benefits when they finally retire from public life. Multiply that by the years they have served and that is a significant cost to the taxpayer.

It is reprehensible that while sustainability is a flagship policy of the Greens they have yet to even define what they mean by it, let alone deliver any specifics on strategies, recommended actions, numbers and costings. Population and sustainability? Too hot and could split the Greens, run and hide behind a review and let's not even think about it before next year!

More obfuscation from Madame Bumfuzzle. She's clearly only here to slag the Greens repetitively and disingenuously. Otherwise she'd answer my questions, which would demonstrate that the major parties would score far less than the Greens on her own facile criteria.

Which is of course why she won't.

Be afraid, Madame Bumfuzzle. Be very afraid :)

Five pages of inane remarks and personal baiting from C J Morgan.

Like others before me I am out of here.