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The Forum > General Discussion > What to make of Lambie

What to make of Lambie

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Paul1405, "I think he [Independent Senator Nick Xenophon] has made a positive contribution to Australian politics. Fully paid up member of The Greens"

LOL, are you sure? Nick Xenophon isn't so keen on the cynical, hypocritical Greens 'Protest Party'. See here,

<Greens roll out Bob Brown to do a hatchet job on Nick Xenophon in the Senate

WE know the Greens are big on recycling but this is ridiculous.

Using former leader Bob Brown to front election campaign ads more than a year after he quit parliament doesn't say much for their current team.

Apparently the Greens don't want to abate just carbon emissions but their new leader, Christine Milne, as well.

The TV spot targeting Nick Xenophon is desperate stuff. Brown offers no policies, instead urging South Australians to protest against the major parties by voting for Sarah Hanson-Young.

Deceptively, Brown suggests a vote for Xenophon helps the Liberals, when the independent senator is actually splitting his preferences evenly between the Coalition and Labor.

So we have a former leader pushing aside the current leader to spruik for a sitting senator on spurious grounds.

This desperation shows the pressure on the Greens. This has every prospect of being a bad election for the third force in Australian politics.

But that could be a good thing for the country and, especially, for South Australia.

The Greens high-water mark came after the 2010 election. They won a lower house seat for the first time and, holding the balance of power in the senate, signed a formal government alliance with Julia Gillard.

It has been all downhill since then. Their focus on the carbon tax, media regulation and weak border protection helped drag Labor away from the mainstream and into a political vortex.

Brown was wise to get out>
http://www.nickxenophon.com.au/blog/article-about-greens-preferencing-by-chris-kenny/
Posted by onthebeach, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 10:45:31 AM
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Dear paul1405,

At a first glance at NXT I was put off that Nick would name a party after himself. This quote from the launch speech eased that a little;

“While I'm a little uneasy about using my name for this new choice, I’ve been convinced by others that it’ll make it easier to find NXT on a ballot paper.”

But I am unsure this was a decent enough reason and smacks a little of 'doing what it takes' which is exactly what the minor parties like the Motoring Enthusiasts are about.

The second thing was the seemingly centralized policy prescriptions. Without a mechanism to drive policy debate within a party like this it is doomed to struggle because without a membership who feels invested in the project interest will quickly wane.

However I did like this;

“NXT will also be running potential candidate training sessions in the first half of 2015 for those who are considering running as independent candidates, or would like to be considered as NXT candidates. If you are considering standing as an independent candidate, or would like to be considered for a NXT candidate position, click here to complete the first step.”

The fact that he and NXT are prepared to extend a hand to those who wish to run a independent is certainly a tick in the right column.
Posted by SteeleRedux, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 8:26:32 PM
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Beach, I was talking to another poster, Ben not you. "Fully paid up member of The Greens." I was referring to myself not Nick X, and unlike you I am quite willing to publicly identify with The Greens, the party I am a member of. 2010 was the low water make for your Australia First Party and its been down hill ever since.
I can only speak for NSW Greens, although the party did well in the recent Victorian State election. Now winning two lower house seats.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria-state-election-2014/victorian-election-2014-greens-claim-second-seat-as-sam-hibbins-wins-prahran/story-fnocxssc-1227150424268

In my home state I expect at the March 2015 election we will win the new seat of Newtown and also pick up a anther seat in the LC. So I don't see any down hill as you claim's exists, I think more what you wish for than reality.

SteeleRedux, as I pointed out the big problem for Nick X nationally, is his profile although great in SA, he's not well known in the other states. Then on the practical side its down to money, and as I said to win numerous senate seats can be difficult if you don't run candidates in all the lower house seats. Also there is a need to develop policy, it should not just be what Nick thinks, a bit like Clive.
I am a great believer in policy and you support the party with conviction. Nick talks of a center, center party. I think a big failing of the Democrats was in the end they tried too hard to please everyone, and ended up pleasing no one. To be successful a party has to be broad based, but still retain its conviction, populism which around the Hawke time, Labor indulged in, worked for a time, but then people started to question what Labor stood for, they seemed to have no conviction, a party must have conviction.
Posted by Paul1405, Wednesday, 10 December 2014 6:54:46 AM
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There are some seats the greens will never win until the sky falls in. They will one day win a term in Victoria.
Nick X is a good trier and a moderate and i hope he does well, at least makes far more sense than Clive.
Lambie with a little more experience would be an asset to any team. She has commitment for right and wrong.
Posted by 579, Wednesday, 10 December 2014 3:17:21 PM
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Paul, there's a direct co-relation of socio economic status to Greens support.
Median house price in Prahran $975,000, City Of Melbourne $935,000, Newtown $975,000.
The Greens are a lifestyle party supported by the inner city social elites, people vote for and support the party to signal their social status.

Broadmeadows, median house price $345,000, Green vote 5.6%.
Werribee, median house price $310,000, Green vote 9%
Bendigo, median house price $375,000, Green vote 9%
Morwell, median house price $154,000, Green vote 4.7%
Posted by Jay Of Melbourne, Wednesday, 10 December 2014 3:37:50 PM
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Jay the 60% plus vote for The Liberal Party in Toorak and Vaucluse is that also indicating the city social elites, people vote for and support the party to signal their social status. As well as self interest. Why is The Green vote higher in Melbourne than Sydney where median house prices are higher, according to your theory it should be the other way around. In Sydney, in Balmain and Newtown there is a very high percentage of renters, the Green voters do not own those expensive properties, I would think that could also be true of Melbourne as well.
Could the Green vote actually be down to educated voters who think. Many rusted on Liberal and Labor voters simply support the party without giving it much thought at all. I find from personal experience Green voters are more aware of the issues and polices than the typical Labor or Liberal voter.
The basic one issue parties like The Shooters fall in a hole at election time with around 0.03% of the vote, where were all those hunters in Victoria a couple of weeks back? Extreme parties like Australia First, fail to gain any worthwhile support at all, with their simple blind hate polices.
I have long argued that The Greens need to tune their policies in some areas, without compromising core principles to increase our voter appeal. On some issues like climate change I believe we are absolutely right and time and opinion will shift more and more in our favor. On asylum seekers we are also right, but need to do a lot more to articulate our policy and justify that policy. We need to push the bread and butter issues more, health, education, transport etc which are winners for us, while giving some of the philosophical stuff a rest. On the issue of gay rights The Greens was the first major party to strongly support and copped a fair bit of flak initially over the issue, but public opinion is now shifting very much in our direction.
Posted by Paul1405, Thursday, 11 December 2014 5:36:33 AM
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