Green dreaming danger for ALP

Greens leader Adam Bandt has exposed the extent to which Labor leader Anthony Albanese will be hostage to extreme demands on climate action should the ALP be successful at this year’s federal election. By demanding an end to new developments of coal and gas, the Greens have signalled that they will continue to play the role of political spoiler, a fringe party with extreme views that is unable to compromise. The track record of the Greens is one of a party not interested in meaningful reforms, even in areas that it claims to care most about. A refusal to compromise on its maximalist position on climate and support the Rudd government’s plans for a carbon pollution reduction scheme is largely to blame for the more than a decade of partisan climate wars that followed. By setting a red line for co-operation that involves freezing two of the nation’s most important industries and biggest export earners, Mr Bandt effectively has declared nothing has changed.

While Mr Bandt has shown the Greens have learnt nothing, the Opposition Leader is attempting to demonstrate that Labor is alive to the potential of a repeat of the unexpected wipe-out that helped put Scott Morrison into the Lodge in 2019. Mr Albanese has re-engaged with voters in Queensland in a bid to ease concerns in the key mining seats that turned against Labor. The ALP has given its support to development of a new gas-fired power plant in Kurri Kurri in NSW’s Hunter Valley. The significance of this decision goes well beyond the Hunter seats Labor is seeking to retain. Practically, supporting a gas-fired plant is the responsible decision to safeguard electricity reliability in the transition to lower emissions. Politically, the decision puts space between the ALP and the Greens. Mr Albanese said Mr Bandt’s demands were an attempt to make the Greens seem more important and relevant than they were. He said Labor would not negotiate with the Greens to form minority government.

Mr Bandt, however, is openly touting conditional Greens support. He says the Greens would seek to improve and not block Labor legislation in the Senate. But the party’s non-negotiable demands on coal and gas highlight the ALP’s problem. While the Greens will not achieve significant numbers in the lower house, they may be needed by Labor in the Senate, along with other disaffected, single-issue independents.

Mr Albanese must demonstrate that Labor has learnt its lesson with the Greens and that voters can trust that what he says before the election will be what happens when the results are in.