Greens challenge in SA elections
By Melanie Sjoberg
ADELAIDE — The Greens SA will contest both the Legislative Assembly and lower house in the state elections on October 11. Paul Petit and Rita Helling will stand for the Legislative Assembly. In the lower house, Mark Moran will contest the seat of Adelaide, and Michelle Drummond will run in Norwood.
The Greens' slogan is "Our World, Our Jobs, Our Voice". Petit told Green Left Weekly the campaign will focus on the need to prevent mining in our national parks, opposition to uranium mining and an array of local environment protection issues.
The Greens will also highlight the need to fight racism, and will support the Kumarangk Coalition in its fight to stop the building of the Hindmarsh Island bridge. "It is not only a struggle for Aboriginal rights", Petit said, "but also a broader social justice and democratic struggle".
Another major focus for the Greens will be job creation. Petit said the Greens oppose privatisation and corporatisation, which has led to job cuts in the public sector and therefore a significant reduction in services.
He said that the Greens support a regeneration of the public sector, with an emphasis on youth employment and traineeships. Greens' policy calls for reduced working hours to spread around the jobs.
Petit said that pre-polling had demonstrated there is an unprecedented disenchantment with the major parties amongst voters. He slammed the mainstream politicians for failing to campaign on any of the real issues, having called the elections at such short notice and seeking to hide voter disillusionment in the AFL grand final fever.
For more information, contact the Greens SA on (08) 8221 6828 or drop in to 32-34 Waymouth Street, Adelaide.