Country Greens Victoria Network

Congratulations to all Greens campaigners and supporters.

The Australian Greens have recorded a record result in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

Congratulations to Adam Bandt in the seat of Melbourne, Richard Di Natale our new Victorian senator and to all the successfull Senate candidates.

For those of who who like to crunch the raw numbers, here are the final results of the 2010 election for The Greens in Victoria, as compared to 2007.

Results of note in Victoria:

• Statewide House of Reps total has increased by 50% to 12.2%
• Greens WIN in the seat of MELBOURNE, with a swing of well over 10%, possibly as high as 13% to a primary vote of 36%
• Greens WIN in the SENATE in Victoria with just over a quota (14.3%).
• BATMAN is now 42 /58 Greens/Labor 2 party preferred, with Alex Bhathal and the Batman team topping The Liberals vote and achieving a primary vote of nearly 24%
• A swing of over 6% in MELBOURNE PORTS to bring our vote to over 21% - an outstanding result from Sue Plowright and the Port Phillip/SMECC team.
• A slightly smaller swing in WILLS from Mark Riley and team to bring us to over 19%.
• More than doubled our vote in the seats of MALLEE, MURRAY, CORIO, GORTON and HOLT - with mostly first-time candidates.
• Lenka Thompson and team almost tripled our vote in CALWELL.
• We have increased our vote by around 50% in many other seats, including notable results in the blue-ribbon Liberal-held seats of GOLDSTEIN (16.2%), HIGGINS (17.2%) and KOOYONG (18.27).

1. The Greens stand up for what’s right, not just what’s easy. Whether it’s protecting the environment, introducing universal dental care, opposing the war in Iraq or advocating for refugees to be treated humanely, the Greens are driven by values, not polls.
2. It’s the Party everyone’s heading to. The Greens are the third largest political party in Australia, with five national Senators, 22 State MPs and more than 100 local Greens councillors already playing a positive and constructive role across Australia. More than a million Australians voted Green in 2007, and we're the fastest-growing party in the country.
3. Break the deadlock in the Senate between the Government and the Opposition. Last time the Government of the day also got control of the Senate, we got WorkChoices. Or, Tony Abbott's Coalition could easily win control of the Senate, which would deliver Australians nothing but three years of deadlock. We deserve a Senate that will work for us and deliver strong, sensible action – not just spin.
4. Provide future generations with clean air, clean water and a stable climate. The Greens will tackle climate change by putting a price on carbon for big polluters in the next term of government. It’s time we created new clean energy jobs and started investing in the economy of the future.

As how-to-vote cards are finalised, we will put them here for you to view in advance.

http://greens.org.au/howtovote

"What a stir the debate on marine parks is causing and what a storm in a teacup", said Dr Malcolm McKelvie, Greens candidate for McMillan.

"Even our coalition candidates won't find the concept too hard to understand- protect some sites from fishing so the fish populations can breed and thrive and spread out so there are more fish to catch everywhere else for people now as well as their children and grandchildren. It's not difficult nor very complicated- it's another policy that makes good sense and works."

Greens candidate for Gippsland Michael Bond has cautiously welcomed the Federal Government water announcements but is concerned that they will only result in minor increases in flows to the Snowy River.

Meeting with members of the Snowy River Alliance in Bairnsdale and Paynesville, Michael said: “The announcement to pay out the Snowy River “debt” will only result in a mere 2% increase to flows for the current water year (2010-11) when the legislated target for June 2009 was 15% below Jindabyne Dam and 21% by 2012.

Greens applaud landmark forest ruling

In a David vs Goliath battle, grassroots group Environment East Gippsland took on VicForests and won yesterday.  The landmark decision in the Supreme Court found that logging in the established coupes on Brown Mountain was to halt immediately while endangered species such as the long footed potoroo are present.  In his judgement, Justice Osbourne ruled that no further logging take place at all on Brown Mountain until surveys adequately ensure that no threatened fauna is present in other areas that might be scheduled for future timber getting.

The ABC has rejected pleas from the Greens to be allowed to broadcast a striking yet fake election advertisement that was created for the broadcaster.

The party confirmed it wants to use an advertisement created by agency Republic of Everyone that featured on the Gruen Nation last night.

But the ABC will not allow it to be used during the campaign, stating it owns the rights and the "ABC can't provide one side's advertising".

"The PM's decision to back down or delay again on the equitable distribution of education funding for public schools is a disgrace. It has been Labor policy for years to address the creeping of funds to non-public schools such that one third of government funds reach public schools that teach two thirds of students" said Dr Malcolm McKelvie, Greens candidate for McMillan.