By Situation Theatre 22/09/2015
What a splendid time in Australian politics.
It all started four years ago when Malcolm Turnbull terminated the worst experiment in Australian political history. Having determined once and for all that indeed, lunatics should not manage the asylum, we were relieved when the nation returned to policy debate.
We were hopeful when Tanya replaced Bill and pleased to see her defeat Malcolm. Quickly we became a republic and Cate Blanchett became our first President. Her integrity, popular international public profile and advocacy for the arts, mental health, human rights and the environment made her an obvious choice.
Prime Minister Plibersek prioritised health and education reforms and ushered in successful gay marriage legislation.
Still we wanted more. Labor backed the TPP, refused to end mandatory detention, dismissed a treaty with Indigenous Australians, continued to drag their feet on climate change and refused to tackle radical tax reform which would challenge the power of the rich and polluting.
We wanted more than the lesser of two evils. We wanted a genuine political alternative, not just neoliberalism-lite. We wanted a visionary.
Enter Adam Goodes. Having joined the Greens soon after his retirement from AFL, he was elected to the lower house in 2016 and rose rapidly through the ranks to become Greens leader in 2018.
Goodes has been rewarded for running an extraordinary election campaign which has seen the Greens sweep to power with 92 seats in the Lower House. Labor secured 50 seats while the Liberal and National parties no longer exist. The remaining eight seats have been won by independent activists who intend to ensure the Greens live up to their green democratic vision.
Prime Minister Goodes made this pledge today after being sworn in: “I will be running a 21st century government based on principles of social and environmental justice. Remember when Malcolm Turnbull said he was ushering in a 21st century government? From where I’m standing his government looks pretty damn 20th century.”