Green Left Weekly's Chris Latham spoke to newly elected Greens senator from Western Australia Rachel Siewert about the Greens' increased vote and role now that the Coalition will control both houses of federal parliament from July 1 next year.
The Greens won 8% of the national vote for the Senate and according to Siewert, "increased our vote across the state, winning more than 4% in every seat, increased our vote in every seat but one, and were the third party in every seat except for Kalgoorlie and O'Connor. So clearly we are the third political force in Western Australia and nationally."
Siewert said she feels the Green senators' role will be even more important in a Coalition-controlled Senate. She said they will act as "the conscience of the Senate".
"We don't hold the balance of power, but it makes it even more important that we're there, raising awareness of just how bad the legislation is. I think our role is particularly important in terms of community activism and giving people a sense that there are still people who care and are putting forward a progressive agenda and a voice for alternative politics and policies, and that there is still a strong voice there for social justice, environmental issues and alternative ways of doing economics."
According to Siewert, the Greens' encouragement of grassroots campaigns will be an extension of the party's existing links and involvement within the community, but they would also seek to "work very closely with grassroots campaigns and support them wherever possible, whether that is speaking in the Senate, finding like-minded organisations, asking questions or making adjournment speeches".
While recognising that the Greens would not have the ability to amend legislation, Siewert argued that it will be important for Greens senators to move amendments to the government's legislation as a means to demonstrate what is wrong with the Coalition's legislation and to pose an alternative.
Siewert said she intends to focus on building community activism and raising the issues the Greens' think are important. She also said the alternative voice that the Green senators would provide would be an important source of hope, "because there are so many people who have been depressed over the elections that they are looking at us as a beacon".
When asked about her response to the Howard government's proposed attacks on the trade unions, particularly the possibility of criminal law being used to jail unionists for industrial campaigns, she said that the Greens "would be aghast if unionists were jailed for industrial campaigns, and if that sort of legislation was being brought in". However, as the Greens do not have the balance of power in the Senate, Siewert said it would "be extremely difficult to work on and get amendments to legislation unless we can persuade individual people in the Coalition to act a little independently of the government, which I suspect on this issue they won't".
"There is absolutely no doubt about it — we are in for a terrible time in the Senate and that is why need to be focused on community activism and awareness raising and working with NGOs and working with the union movement, labour organisations and other organizations that are progressive."
Siewert said that in Western Australia there were a number of very active Greens unionists, "who are very active, for example, working on state IR legislation and workers' compensation legislation".
She said that because the Howard government was targeting big changes in industrial relations, the Greens would look to increase the number of members working on their own policy and "forging even stronger links" with unions "and working out how to run campaigns to publicise how bad the legislation is".
From Green Left Weekly, November 17, 2004.
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