“Why I have joined the Greens” – Website commentary by Tony Kevin ,  4 September  2006

 I joined the ACT Branch of the Greens Party in May 2006 (my membership was confirmed after three months’ probation, in August). I now look forward to a fruitful engagement with this idealistic and fast-growing Australian political party – the wave of the future.  

The last and only time I was ever a member of any political party was briefly in 1976-77, when many young public service professionals (as I then was) were playing with the idea that joining a political party might now be a better way to advance one’s public service career, Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser having both begun to erode the Westminster principle (always more of an ideal than a reality,  even before Gough’s expanded personal staff of advisers) of a non-political public service whose honourable duty it was to advise the elected government of the day without fear or favour, and in the national interest. As I was then living across the ACT border in NSW, I joined the Queanbeyan Branch of the ALP, attended one meeting, was appalled at the small-mindedness of it all, and never went back.

 I joined the Greens in May with pleasure, for ethical reasons, but was not greatly looking forward to my first meeting - as it happened, the Canberra Branch’s Annual General Meeting. Yet it turned out to be a great day, full of stimulating and thought-provoking workshop discussion about issues that interest me. 

 A good starting point in explaining why I have joined the Greens now is a recent piece in the July 2006 ACT Greens Newsletter, “Green Light” by longstanding senior member Gösta Lynga. He wrote this:

 

“Member gets Member: Good idea but why does it sometimes not work?”

 “Like myself, you probably belong to a number of social or environmental organisations and you would have heard your friends proudly pronounce: “I don’t belong to any political party”. And yet, these same friends diligently work towards a fairer and more sustainable society. They happily join in demonstrations, and their organisations lobby energetically for their various causes, but they will not refer to this as political activity.

 “They probably vote for us—that is their secret—and some of them will help in elections, but for some reason they don’t believe in joining a party aiming for entering the decision-making chambers. I have listened to some of the reasons and tried to understand my friends’ choices of non–affiliation. These are points that I have heard:

 

1. The Greens are a single issue party. Some of my friends consider us too specialised on forests and climate change. However, some others don’t like the fact that the Greens also work hard for a fairer society. We just cannot please all.

 

2. There is too much to do apart from politics. This is a reason for many to stay outside the Greens. They are working day and night for one or several of the NGOs and do not want to put another task on their plate. Actually, more than 80% of our members are not involved actively in the running of the party and the support of passive members is also appreciated.

 

3. Politicians are in the game for their own benefit. This kind of cynicism may be justified in some specific cases, but my experience is that politicians—even those whose ideology is quite different from ours—are there because they believe that they can help to create a better society. The elected Greens certainly are!

 

4. It is important to be independent. I know a number of green–minded people with influence in society who claim that belonging to a political party would diminish their clout. This is the only reason that can make me back off trying to recruit them as members.

 

“In our quest to create an even stronger party with even more members, it is important to understand that the reasons are different for different people, so our way of reaching them will depend on the individuals.

 

“Hopefully, we’ll gradually be able to recruit more people who, like most of our current members, will say “I have never before belonged to any political party, but now it is really important to support the Greens”.

 

**       

 

Every one of those four arguments against joining the Greens, or any political party, that Gösta discusses here is something that I have thought at one time or another since I became an activist for various particular public-interest causes, starting in about 2000.  So what has led me to change my views now, and join the Greens? 

 

Let’s address his four points one by one, in terms of my own knowledge of the Greens and my experience of issue-based activism since 2000:

 

1.         The Greens are NOT a single issue party.   From what I know of the Greens platform (and I am still learning) , it is consistent and inclusive on all of the most vital issues affecting our society, be they to do with the environment,  national security (i.e., peace and war), or economic and social justice - including the economy, employment, trade, human rights and civil liberties in our society. The point is, these issues are all interconnected … we only have to do the hard work of joining the dots. 

 

2.         “There is too much to do apart from politics”.  On the contrary: I have now concluded that the most effective way to use my limited personal resources of energy and time, in working for the betterment of our society, is by engaging as a member in the work of the Greens, an active and growing small party that is trying through the ballot box to expand its voice in Australia’s political decision-making chambers. Over the past five years, I have worked  independently and with friends or colleagues on fact-finding or advocacy in various good causes, e.g., seeking truth and justice on what was done to boat people,  in particular for the families of the 353 drowned victims on SIEV X,   seeking fair treatment for asylum-seekers and refugees in general, seeking justice for the Iraqi people on whom we helped visit an unjust and internationally illegal war that is still wrecking their lives, opposing the undemocratic new sedition laws, exposing injustice and legal malpractice towards people like David Hicks, Mamdouh Habib,  and now Jack Thomas, drawing attention to likely government corruption in the murky WMD and AWB affairs,  etc. All this work is archived on my website www.tonykevin.com .

 

The point is, it is all “politics”.  Why should I go on doing it alone, when there is a growing political party that shares my views on many of these kinds of moral issues – and they are all moral issues - and is working through the parliamentary process to try to improve matters?  

 

3.         After 38 years spent observing Australian politics, first as a 30-year career public servant and then as an independent activist, I don’t believe it is generally true that “politicians are in the game for their own benefit”.  I share Gösta Lynga’s views on this.  I’d add that a blanket cynicism about politicians actually undermines those who are trying to do good in politics from whatever party they come - and there are obviously good people in all the parties, and plays into the hands of those who are not in my view trying to do good in politics, If we conclude that “all are equally guilty”, this then means that none are guilty, because there are then no models of conduct to admire or aspire to.  On this, I admire the generally principled and thoughtful statements made by Greens senators in Federal Parliament and outside it over the past few years. My decision to join the Greens was influenced by my knowledge as an informed citizen of that good record of public advocacy work.

 

4.         “It is important to be independent”.  This used to be a factor in my thinking until a few years ago.  I started my SIEV X research work, and even later my work in 2003-2004 exposing how we went to war in Iraq dishonourably, before we declared we were at war and 30 hours before the coalition’s declared 48-hour ultimatum had expired, or my work on how Australia’s ADF command supported a gross US crime against humanity in Fallujah, in the belief that it would more easily be possible to open up such serious public issues for objective fact-based public discussion if I were not tied to a particular party, i.e., if I could not be accused of “having a political axe to grind”.  

 

I soon realised that this is a naive and incorrect belief.  Whatever one says that goes against the mainstream grain of beliefs and values will be regarded as advocacy, no matter how factually based it is. Those who do not like what one says or feel threatened by it will do what they can to undermine both the work and the author. In my case, my independence was not helping me to achieve my goals of transparency, good governance and a more just Australian society.  I believe that being a member of the Greens will help me in continued work towards these goals.

 

Of course everyone has to make up their own minds on this, but I join with Gösta Lynga in hoping that with vital national elections coming up in 2007 (and in ACT in 2008), more people will join the Greens.  It is truly a different kind of political party – it offers something more to its grassroots members than the two major parties – and we need more members from now on, to help us prepare for next year’s federal election.    

 

Tony Kevin, Canberra,  4 September 2006