Voting Green has always seemed to me to be either a luxury vote or a sign of frustration, never one of any particular conviction.

I suspect that much of the Green support comes from the vast army of public servants, who are essentially a form of middle-class welfare recipient. They are answerable only to themselves, and have been largely protected - through endemic featherbedding - from any economic variations. They are therefore able to apply themselves to the woolly, feel-good, non-commercial aspects of our society - hence the "luxury vote".

There are now signs however that they might be more exposed to the winds of economic change than they imagined, as government largesse becomes an increasingly visible lead weight on our survival through these hard times. Hence an increasing desire for a more mature and pragmatic approach to public policy. Which, sadly, has never been a strong point for the Greens.

The frustration vote, on the other hand, is the "I loathe both major parties, perhaps if I vote for these Greens it might wake them up a bit".

As we can now see, this has been a disastrous choice, handing power to a bunch of folk whose starlight-and-moonbeam ideas diverge from reality at every possible opportunity, frustrating any and every attempt to frame coherent policy.

Instead of throwing their vote away, as they had intended, they single-handedly created the mess that we have endured through this parliament. And I suspect they are beginning to realize it.

I rather think that the fall in Greens' support is a reflection of their extreme position in the recent refugee debate.
The Greens lost sight of that old truth, 'Politics is the art of the doable'.
The Greens clung to a position that was politically completely not doable.
And now, quite rightly, they're paying the political price for it.
If the Greens want a place at the grownups' table, they have to think and act like grown ups.
In my view, saying to the electorate, 'If we don't get exactly what we want, then we won't play', is definitely not acting like a grown up.
Anthony
http://www.observationpoint.com.a

I just read Turnbull's speech last night, and I totally agree with 579's comment.
What Malcolm said, should have been said a long time ago.
He's the only one who could pull me back into the Coalition fold.
Anthony
http://www.observationpoint.com.au

The Greens' position on the boat people is that Australia should observe all the provisions of the Convention on Refugees which it has signed on to. Not to observe that convention is a treaty violation. The fact that both the government and the opposition have agreed to ignore the treaty does not justify the violation of the treaty.

http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49da0e466.html will direct one to information concerning the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol.

I am a Green and wish they would concentrate more on working for a sustainable society. However, their position on asylum seekers is one of the things they have got right.

Here you go, Ludwig. This'll warm the cockles of your heart.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-06/coal-fired-stations-1b-better-off-under-carbon-tax/4246100

David,
You are correct to point out that only the Greens' position is consistent with our treaty obligations.
It's a sad commentary on us as a society that meeting our international obligations is simply not politically doable.
I also support much of what the Greens stand for, especially on the environment, but also on the refugee issue, but I do find it frustrating that the Greens seem to prefer 100% of nothing rather than some percentage, even a small one, of something.
If the Greens could only understand that there is simply no way to get from where we are today as a nation to where they would like us to be, (and where a great many Australians would like to see us), in a single step.
But rather than go with a small step in the right direction and then get to work on the next step, the Greens seem to prefer to remain ideologically pure and make no progress; in fact, by these poll numbers, go backward.
Most frustrating.
Anthony
http://www.observationpoint.com.au