GREENS

MANIFESTO
For the many not the few*
For the planet not for profits

By David Shoebridge Greens MP

Printed and distributed by Greens members and supporters

* A shameless appropriation of Jeremy Corbyn’s call to

action, we are using it because we find it so inspiring.
 Demanding fundamental change, driven by all four of the Greens
pillars of social justice, grassroots politics, peace and ecological
sustainability is not just right in principle, it’s smart politics.

We are lucky to be a party with four pillars. This policy depth

means we are able to lead the growing demand for social justice
and radical fairness, while saving the planet.

In a world that’s demanding root and branch change to

economies, governments and environmental protection, if we
limit our campaigning and vision to just one pillar, then we are
limiting our party to the political margins.

To create a more equal and just society and to take action on

climate change we need to think big. I want us to be the party
with the vision for the future.

I’m excited about this vision and I can’t wait to work with you on
it.

David

1
 Politics is broken
The 2016 federal election
saw Labor and the Liberals
hit historic lows in their
primary votes in line with a
trend apparent since 2007.
The ALP recorded their 2nd
lowest primary vote since
the Great Depression, while
the Liberals recorded the 3rd
lowest primary vote in their
history. Correspondingly the
vote for minor parties and
independents was the highest
the country has ever seen.
Despite this, the Greens
achieved just a +1.6% swing.
2
The findings of two major
social surveys The Scanlon
Foundation’s Mapping Social
Cohesion 2016 and Australian
National University’s Trends
in Australian Political Opinion
provides further analysis of the
raw primary data.
Taken together the two
major social surveys show
the following:
• From 2007 to 2016, the
percentage of people ‘satisfied
with democracy’ has dropped
from 86 percent to 60 percent
in 2016.
 • The percentage of people
‘not satisfied with democracy’
has increased from 14 percent
in 2007 to 40 percent in 2016.
• The percentage of people
who believe that government is
run for a ‘few big interests’ has
increased from 38 percent to
56 percent
• The percentage of
people who think ‘people
in government look after
themselves’ has increased
from 57 percent to 74 percent.
It can be argued that the
policy platform offered
by the Australian Greens
acknowledges this
dissatisfaction and offers
reforms to address it. However,
if we use our static federal
electoral support as a metric,
the Australian Greens are not
providing the inspiration the
electorate is looking for. The
recent disappointing result in
Tasmania confirms this.
The Scanlon survey found that
since 2007 the percentage of
people who believe that the
system of government needs
‘major change’ or ‘should be
3
replaced’ has increased by 8
percent to 42 percent.
A breakdown in demographics
and voting intentions
demonstrates that Labor and
independent voters (two of our
biggest targets) are above this
average with 50.1 percent and
56 percent respectively.
In the US, the UK and
elsewhere, inequality, slow
job growth, job insecurity and
huge jumps in the cost of living
have undermined belief in the
political mainstream.
Australia is not isolated
from this trend. Inequality has
been on the rise since the
1960s and has grown markedly
deeper in
the past few years alongside
dissatisfaction with politics.
Popular movements including
those around Jeremy Corbyn
and Bernie Sanders have
harnessed this loss of
political legitimacy to offer an
alternative vision that seeks to
undermine, disrupt and bring
major change to the current
economic and political system.
Here our party, furthest left
 on the political spectrum, and
with a stated commitment to
social justice, is best placed to
replicate the same approach
and some of its successes.
There is a growing tendency
within the Greens have to take
a cautious approach to social
reform, casting the party as
part of the political mainstream
seeking achievable reforms.
A refusal to substantially
challenge the political system,
means we underplay one of
our core pillars. Despite hard
won gains by the environment
movement, rates of
degradation are increasing, for
example Australia has one of
the highest land clearing rates
in the word and Australia’s
4
greenhouse gas emissions are
increasing.
It’s clear that individual
consumer choices, corporate
responsibility programs
and regulation by a political
system dependent on
corporate money won’t avert
environmental catastrophe.
The current system places
corporate profits above all
else including people, the
environment and climate.
We need to openly challenge
this system. We are the party
best placed to respond to this
appetite for the major change
to preserve and regenerate
our natural environment and
deliver major economic and
social reforms.
 To create a more equal and
just society and to mitigate
the worst of climate change
we need to think big.
Why stop at abolishing
negative gearing and no-fault
evictions, why not universal
housing and unlimited leases?
Why just demand more
renewable energy, why
not commit to a national
emergency public
infrastructure plan to build and
own it?
Why not demand an end to
all public money for private
schooling and a universal right
to free TAFE and university?
Why not say it loud and proud,
that we will 100% restore
the right to strike as a basic
freedom for working people?
5
Why stop at opposing
corporate tax cuts, why not
a cap on CEO salaries and a
billionaire’s tax?
Why not go beyond reforms
to the childcare rebate and
benefit schemes and instead
demand universal public
childcare?
Let’s protest coal mines,
waste, land clearing and
development and challenge
the system that delivers
all these things because it
places corporate profit above
everything else.
A majority of our target voters
want big ideas, they think the
system needs major change
or should be replaced, so
we need to offer more than
technocratic tinkering.
 If we don’t articulate an
alternative vision that
demands major change we’re
ceding a historic opportunity
for economic, social and
environmental wins.
Tapping into the desire for
change
To grow the vote we need to
appeal to wider sections of
the electorate. The Scanlon
Foundation found that the
two most important issues
identified by voters were the
‘economy’ and ‘trust and
integrity’. Protection of the
environment was identified
as the 6th most important
issue with 5.3 percent of
people identifying as the most
important.
Exit polling by Lonergan from
the 2015 NSW State Election
6
shows that key issues among
former Greens voters and
those who considered, but
didn’t, vote Green were the
economy and jobs.
In contrast, our top campaign
messages that were able to
be recalled when prompted
by former Greens voters
and those who considered,
but didn’t, vote Green were
banning fossil fuels and
promoting clean energy.
Put simply, relying on those
messages alone didn’t, and
won’t, get them to vote for us.
Issues that were of more
concern than the environment
to former Greens voters
and those who considered
but didn’t vote Green, such
as education, health and
privatisation, were viewed as
 better handled by the Labor
Party.
Exit polling from the 2016
Federal Election shows that 28
percent of voters considered
housing affordability important
when deciding their vote.
This accords with the 24th
ANUPoll - Attitudes to Housing
Affordability from March 2017
that found that around 87
percent of people are either
‘very concerned’ or ‘somewhat
concerned’ that future
generations will not be able to
afford to buy a house.
Because the system is rigged
against young people housing
affordability will continue to
be an issue of concern for
voters headed into the next
state election. It is noteworthy
7
that only 7 percent of former
Greens voters or those
considering voting Green think
the Greens are the best party
to handle housing.
Voters, especially young ones,
are experiencing the lowest
wage growth in a generation
and dealing with increased
scarcity and insecurity of work,
coupled with huge jumps in
the cost of living. We need to
be directly relevant to these
people in our campaigning.
The Greens need to link
environmental concerns to the
economic and social inequality
that people are experiencing.
The Greens are trusted to
stand up for the environment,
but we can’t protect the
environment without
challenging the political and
 economic system, rigged in the
interests of the corporate elite
who own both major parties.
Unless we fix the economic
and political system, then
dangerous climate change,
environmental devastation
and worsening inequality is
guaranteed.
The Federal Election exit
polling shows environmental
issues like climate change,
saving the Great Barrier Reef
and mining and coal seam
gas rated below social and
economic issues for voters.
Mining and coal seam gas
came in at number 20. In
contrast, the perceived key
8
messages of the Greens’
campaign were Saving the
Reef and no new coal mines.
There is a false perception
that the Greens focus almost
entirely on the environment at
the expense of other economic
and social issues, which are
more important to likely and
former Greens voters.
This perception is a barrier to
growing our vote. 37 percent
of those considering voting
Green and 38 percent of
former Greens voters said
the principal barrier to voting
Greens was policies or a
perceived lack of policies.
The environment must always
 be in our party’s DNA but we
can’t be limited by it in our
campaigning.
We need to broaden public
understanding of our credible
economic and social justice
policies while remaining true to
our environmental values.
If one of the aims of the party
is greater electoral success we
need to change the perception
that we are just an environment
party, that stopping fossil fuels
is our only concern.
This doesn’t mean a realigning
of the party’s goals and
principles. Having more
Greens in Parliament and a
9
wider activist base helps us
achieve environmental wins.
We don’t need a realignment
of the party’s core values we
need a realignment of our
electoral strategy.
The 2015 NSW election exit
polling shows former Greens
voters placed significantly less
importance on the environment
when deciding who to vote for
compared to Greens voters.
Economic and social issues
were ranked well above the
environment as the most
important issue to this cohort.
Former Green voters identified
environmental issues as the
 one they heard and saw the
Greens campaign on the
most and 38 percent of them
said they didn’t vote Green
because they perceived we
had a lack of policies. This
suggests that they, like the
wider voting public, perceive
our predominant focus on the
environment as limiting.
In recent years we’ve seen
how campaigns without an
effective social justice agenda
have failed to excite the public.
In Tasmania for example
Greens support at a state level
has halved from 21.6% in 2010
to 10.3% in 2018.
We should not be concerned
that a shift to include
economic justice issues along
with the environment as issues
10
on which the Greens campaign
will lose us the environment
vote. The fact is we have a
proven track record of standing
up for our environment. We
are synonymous with action
on climate change and
environmental concerns.
The Queensland Greens
in the recent state election
made the same deliberate
shift and scored the highest
Green state election vote
that QLD has ever seen plus
their first MP. We can hold
true to our environmental
record and principles and also
prioritise fixing a system that
is causing dangerous social
and economic inequality and
fuelling climate change and
environmental devastation.
 Grassroots Politics
How we achieve change
We will not fix the world just
by getting more MPs elected
to Parliament. Meaningful,
sustainable change happens
in society from the grassroots
up. Our rights haven’t just
been handed to us. Well-
minded Parliaments didn’t just
give women and First Nations
people the right to vote, or
working people the right to a
weekend.
Progressive change is driven
by unions and other broad
collective action that builds
social movements and social
agendas. It is only once that
happens that Parliament is
forced to act.
In 2018 this fundamental law
of politics hasn’t changed.
As Greens we campaign and
struggle to get MP’s elected,
but only as part of our broader
engagement in political
change.
The Greens NSW came from
activist social movements like
the union-led Green Bans, anti-
nuclear and forest campaigns.
11
We formed the party because,
as activists, we know that
our environmental, social
and political struggles are all
connected.
But it’s not just the issues that
are connected, it’s also the
way we make change. One,
two or twenty MPs can only
be effective if what they are
demanding in Parliament is
also being demanded across
society. That’s why we go
to rallies, work with activist
groups and link in with unions
in our day-to-day politics.
That’s why we must always
support the right to strike.
An effective Greens MP can
give leadership on issues, can
bring campaigners together
and ultimately introduce
changes in Parliament, but
none of this will happen if we
don’t work with and build the
grassroots movements outside
Parliament in the first place.
As a party we must also
respect our own grassroots
structure and celebrate the
right of members to determine
policy, direct campaigns and
hold Greens MPs to account.
 We need to learn from the
history of formerly progressive
parties like the ALP and not
allow an elite group of MPs to
seize control of the party and
its policies.
In those cases where
parliamentary action loses
touch with broader social
movements then progressive
legislative wins face being
undone by a resurgent right
wing campaign. This is how
the Your Rights at Work
campaign ended up with the
UnFair Work Act, forestry
protections in Tasmania were
unwound, the greyhound
racing ban in NSW came
unstuck and, most shamefully
of all, how the Commonwealth
climate change package was
rescinded.
Grassroots movements don’t
just drive progressive change,
they keep it.
12
The way forward
A stated preference for the
“political mainstream” and
an artificially limited focus
on the environment with no
critique of the political, social
justice and economic system
that is causing environmental
devastation and inequality
is not the path to electoral
success.
The way forward for the left is
a bold vision that preferences
fundamental change over
minor reforms. If we broaden
our focus to prominently
include policies that address
growing economic injustice
and transform the economic
and social system, we will see
increased support. The Greens
will then be better placed
as a party to protect the
environment and improve the
lives of ordinary people.
 We’re not a single issue party because
this isn’t a single issue world. Protecting
the environment requires consideration
of social justice and the disproportionate
impact of climate change on the poor and
vulnerable communities.

13
 The Alternative Vision
Major change won’t come
by focusing solely on small
immediate wins, we need
a long-term strategy that
challenges existing ideas.
For example housing isn’t
currently thought of like health
or education as something
everyone has a right to. Our
aim must be to change this.
Rescuing endangered species
cannot be done without
addressing the powerful
corporate interests that not
only rely on exploiting natural
resources but also have the
support of the major parties.
We need to set out a vision
for the future that claims the
mantle of economic progress
and modernisation for our
side of politics. We need to
do more than just resisting
and defending, and start
creating and demanding as
well. Politics around the world
is breaking apart. The old
political consensus is gone and
major parties can’t respond
because they’ve all been co-
opted by corporate interests.
In Europe, Green parties that
14
have strayed towards the
centre have been punished
with electoral insignificance.
Instead of just trying to defend
what we have left it’s time
to get on the front foot and
demand a better world.
What is the vision?
This is by no means exhaustive
list of big ideas to be raised
via social and traditional media
and campaign events like
forums and rallies. Each idea is
supported by Greens policies.
Whether or not these or other
ideas become the campaigning
focus of the party is ultimately
a matter for members.
Members will eventually decide
on our platform and be the
backbone of our campaigns.
Brave ideas attract critics,
especially from the powerful
interest groups who resist
change. It is important to
remember that these ideas are
things that most people want
but corporate and political
elites are working hard to
prevent from becoming a
reality. We need to remind
people of what is possible.
 Aboriginal Justice
As Greens we know that
Aboriginal people are the
original custodians of the land.
This continent’s First Peoples
have never surrendered
sovereignty over their land.
Since invasion they have
faced 230 years of violence,
dispossession and oppression.
Recognising this, we must also
recognise that delivering real
justice to this country’s First
Peoples needs to be a Greens
priority.
January 26 marks the
beginning of what is now
widely recognised as
genocide. It represents the
loss of land, culture, language
and it represents invasion. Of
course the date of Australia’s
national day should change.
15
But our work for Aboriginal
justice needs to far go beyond
this, we need to change the
country.
Aboriginal people are the
most incarcerated people in
the world. Aboriginal children
are ten times more likely to
be taken from their families,
Aboriginal people suffer
grossly disparate health and
life expectancy outcomes and
this is a direct consequence of
invasion and dispossession.
It’s 50 years since the 1967
Referendum, 25 years since
the Mabo Decision and 20
years since the Bringing Them
Home report, yet the injustice
continues.
This is why as Greens we need
to prioritise the work we do
on the ground with Aboriginal
 communities. It is why we work
with Aboriginal grandmothers
demanding their grandchildren
stop being stolen. This is
why we stand with Aboriginal
families and demand an end
to deaths in custody. It is why
we walk with Aboriginal elders
who are fighting to protect
their land and culture from
the savagery of mining and
forestry operations.
This is work that must be in
partnership with First Nations
peoples where our most
important job is not to bang
the drum for the Greens, but to
help give Aboriginal people a
stronger voice.
and advocacy on the ground
with Aboriginal elders and
communities. This is hard,
challenging but essential
work and it needs far greater
prominence form the Greens.
In all this work our focus needs
to be on empowerment. The
end goal of the campaign is
not a high level treaty or a well
crafted piece of motherhood
legislation it is far more
fundamental than that. It must
be Aboriginal sovereignty and
self-determination.

The Greens should be proud of

our consistent stance against
the racist intervention and the
cashless welfare card which
are designed to disempower
Aboriginal people. We do have
a track record of working to
bring justice to Aboriginal
victims of violence and we
can be heard to speak up
against the broken criminal
justice system. However more
Greens MPs and more Greens
members need to commit
to sustained campaigning

16
 Billionaires tax
Australia’s billionaires have
over $111 billion dollars in
wealth between them. It’s time
that wealth was shared.
That’s more than three times
the government’s annual
spend on education. It’s
more than the wealth of most
countries.
Gina Rinehart and property
baron Harry Triguboff own
more wealth than the poorest
20% of Australians. Gina
Rinehart’s wealth doubled
to $16.6 billion in just one
year. Many corporations run
by billionaires paid no tax in
2014-15. Meanwhile average
Australian households have
less than they did eight years
ago.
Rents and house prices
are higher, child care and
electricity prices have jumped.
Older Australians are going
without food and heating
because the cost of living is
too high for their pensions.
Parents are having to choose
between a school excursion or
the power bill.
17
Meanwhile billionaires are
getting handouts from
the government with tax
concessions, cut price sale
of public assets, toll road
concessions, favourable
planning decisions and fossil
fuel other tax rebates.
Successive governments in
NSW have privatised essential
services and those with the
means to buy them up have
made a killing. They have
orchestrated the firesale
of public assets to private
corporations, something that
has happened across the
country.
This has seen the transfer of
wealth from the public, from
all of us, into the hands of
the wealthy few. It’s time we
reversed that trend.
The gap between the rich and
the rest of us is increasing.
It’s not fair or right for those
at the top to have so much at
the expense of everyone else
.We were told that the wealth
would ‘trickle down’ - but that
was a lie.
 Politicians make it their
political mission to make the
rich richer. It is not right or fair
that the top 1% of Australians
own more wealth than the
bottom 70% combined. We
don’t have to sit back and
take it. It’s time to demand a
different kind of politics. It’s
time to tax the rich.
If in addition to income tax,
which is largely avoided by
the super wealthy, we taxed
billionaires just 5 percent of
their accumulated wealth
each year, we’d have $5.5
billion more to spend on
public education, affordable
childcare, housing and cheap
clean energy. If we taxed their
wealth at 10% that figure
jumps to $11 billion. This pays
18
for an awful lot of things that
will benefit all of us, not just
the mega rich.
Action on climate change in
planning
If we don’t plan for climate
change we’re planning to fail.
But our planning laws don’t
even mention climate change.
Instead, they’re rigged to
make massive profits for major
party’s mates in the property
industry, who’ve given them
over $2.5 million in just the last
financial year alone.
We have to make sure every
new development considers
the impact of climate change,
we need protected urban
forests and tree canopies that
 will lessen the worst impacts
of climate change in our major
cities.It’s well and truly time to
green-up our cities by setting
binding tree canopy targets for
all neighbourhoods.
The NSW planning system
manages the approvals
process for projects which
will contribute to the carbon
footprint of NSW for decades.
Climate change must be at
the heart of every planning
decision.
At present the planning system
is a racket that makes money
for billionaire property barons.
Meanwhile nature doesn’t
19
make political donations
neither do local communities,
so they almost always lose out.
If we want a liveable city that
isn’t overwhelmed by rows
of apartment blocks linked
together by traffic-jammed
private motorways, we must
fix the rigged planning system.
Our planning system has little
vision for the future, no voice
from the community and
prioritises profit. It’s time for
that to change.
The law must require
developers to identify all the
emissions of their development
from its construction, operation
 and decommissioning. It must
also require developments to
identify how the development
will respond to the likely
impacts of climate change
such as sea level rise, extreme
heat, bushfires and flooding.
For coal mines and other fossil
fuel projects the law needs to
consider the greenhouse gas
emissions caused, not just by
the mining and extraction, but
also by the inevitable burning
of the fuels. This seems so
obvious we shouldn’t need to
say it, but astoundingly this
is not how the law presently
works.
The fact is our planning
laws are written by and for
the corporate interests that
support the major parties.
Fixing the planning laws to
address climate change also
requires us to fix the crooked
system that gives so much
power to corporations and so
little to the community.
Planning is not the only tool to
address climate change, but it
is a vital part of the solution.
20
Universal Basic Income (UBI)
Australia is one of the richest
countries in the world and with
a guaranteed universal income
we can deliver a fairer share for
all.
Under a universal basic
income everyone receives a
limited “wage” that is enough
to allow them to pay for the
essentials. This universal basic
income is payable if you are in
or out of work and regardless
of whether you are actively
seeking work or not. It would
allow us to shut down much of
Centrelink and redeploy those
resources towards directly
helping people and not just
chasing the poorests amongst
us for ‘breaches’. It would
give us all a greater sense of
economic security.
A universal basic income
isn’t just the answer to
automation, it will ensure that
everyone in Australia can live
comfortably. It is not just the
answer to unemployment,
it will help promote the idea
that a person’s worth is not
dependant on their economic
productivity. A universal basic
 income will help redefine the
worth placed on traditionally
unpaid labour like caring
and childrearing and help
breakdown the labour divide
between genders.
A universal basic income
allows for more free time, more
time to be creative and more
time to work for community
good. It is a tangible
alternative for mining and
regional communities which
have been told mining is the
only solution to high levels of
unemployment. It will reduce
poverty, mean reductions in
petty crime and less invasive
state bureaucracy.
While it would be a
fundamental economic reform,
it is not the only solution to
economic inequality. It must
be implemented along with
improved workplace rights and
fairer working conditions.
Renewables and a publicly
owned energy grid
Privately owned coal fired
power stations using 20th
century technology need to
become part of our history, not
21
our future. While we remain
committed to a failing market
driven solution to electricity
generation we will not be able
to move beyond coal and gas
in the time scale needed to
address dangerous climate
change.
In a climate emergency it is
essential we take emergency
national action. We need to
renationalise the energy grid
and commit our common
wealth to building a nation-
wide energy grid powered by
renewables.
Through the pioneering work of
Greens such as Dr John Kaye
we have known for years that
a 100% renewable power grid
is affordable, achievable and
essential.
It’s time to go beyond tinkering
with the market in an attempt
to encourage corporate
Australia to produce greener
energy. It’s time to have state
and federal governments step
up and build the future.
When we were much poorer
we built the Snowy Hydro
project and the existing
 national energy grid. We
have the resources now
to build a national publicly
owned renewable energy grid
with near zero greenhouse
gas emissions, minimal
environmental impacts on
our air and water and more
sustainable jobs than a dying
fossil fuel industry.
Everyone wins from this
future except a handful of
multinational corporate fossil
fuel companies.
Let’s campaign for a national
publicly owned green grid
rather than a marginal change
to a broken electricity market.
22
Radical Environmental
Protection
The Greens believe it’s
a human right to have a
healthy environment, and the
natural world should have
independent rights.
We need to expand the list of
human rights to include the
right to be free from pollution,
the right for balance in
ecosystems, the right to clean
air and water.
As part of this we should give
rights to the natural world
to protect itself from human
excess. We can learn from
the developments in countries
 like New Zealand and give
essential natural systems
such as rivers their own legal
status and rights. We should
start with the Murray Darling
system.
Environmental protection
cannot just be avoiding
destruction but should also
include expansion of the
National Park estate and the
movement of all native State
Forests into public reserves.
Ultimately a core component of
environmental protection must
be ending the externalising
of environmental costs by big
business. It’s time to defeat the
mindset that says nature is a
commodity to be exploited and
we are all customers.
23
Right to strike, shorter
working hours and full pay
Good steady jobs are
disappearing and we have
the lowest wage growth in
decades. At the same time
corporate profits are surging to
thirty-year highs. The share of
wages compared to profits has
fallen to the lowest level since
1959. Meanwhile, some of us
are working longer hours and
have less time with family and
friends.
Compared to other developed
nations, Australians work
longer and longer hours.
According to data from
the HILDA survey, 26% of
Australians want to work
fewer hours per week. Official
 working hours are 38 hours
today. But since the 1970s,
many Australians have started
working longer, often unpaid,
hours.
Technology has made work
more efficient, yet often more
stressful with very little down
time. It is now common, even
expected, to respond to emails
and text messages outside of
working hours. This makes
shorter working hours even
more important.
A shorter working week can
give people who want to
work less, more flexibility
and a greater work-life-
balance, while providing an
opportunity to the unemployed
and underemployed for
additional working hours. As
we become wealthier and
more productive at work, our
economy can afford to deliver
shorter working hours while
maintaining current rates of
pay.
Throughout history, workers
have consistently demanded
a shorter working week.
Australian workers led the
world in winning the five-day
work week, and the eight-hour
24
day. It is time for the next step.
In Germany more than 15,000
workers are taking industrial
action to demand at 28-hour
work week with no cuts to pay.
Demanding a shorter work
week for the same wage is not
unreasonable or unrealistic.
We need to make these
demands clear as part of a
broader goal to have a fair
share of work and a fair share
of this country’s wealth. Of
course we must also fight to
retain and restore essential
industrial rights like penalty
rates, but these campaigns
need to be part of a broader
message about fairness and
justice at work and in the
economy more broadly.
However we will not be able
to win shorter working hours
unless we regain the right to
strike. The Your Rights at Work
campaign in 2007 showed
how ordinary Australians
care deeply about working
conditions and will get behind
an imaginative and progressive
union campaign. It is also
a lesson in how grassroots
movements can be betrayed
by politicians, with the ALP’s
 2007 UnFair Work Act failing to force them to act and to finally
deliver on the promise of the deliver a Fair Work Act. This is
campaign. a campaign that Greens across
the country need to 100%
We can take heart from the support.
words of ACTU President Sally
McManus when she said: Flexible hours also means
delivering Portable Long
“When [the law] is unjust, I Service Leave for all working
don’t think there’s a problem Australians. Long service leave
with breaking it” makes it possible for workers
to take a much needed break
Rights are only won when every ten years. This is a
you challenge the rules head chance for Australian workers
on, this is what the ACTU’s to reconnect with family
campaign to Change the Rules and friends, or just recharge
is being driven by. It’s a chance batteries after a decade
to learn the lessons of 2007. working. The sharp increase
in contract and casual work
This campaign is focused not means that less and less
just on a win in Parliament, but working people have a well-
a win in workplaces. It is about earned-rest every ten years.
regaining the right to strike, We believe everyone should
increasing workplace rights have this right.
and giving power to working
people in the long term, not Prioritising wom*ns rights
just at a one-off election.
Wom*n’s rights are human
Change the Rules has the rights. But whether it is wage
potential to build a movement inequality, harassment inside
that stays around well after and outside the workforce,
the next few elections. This is or attacks on reproductive
the kind of social movement rights, the patriarchy continues
that will not only put more to entrench inequality and
decent MPs in Parliament, it sexism. We have a system that
will then have the strength to was created by, and sustained

25
 by, cis-men. Affirmative action,
quotas and inclusion riders are
useful, but they are not going
to fundamentally change this.
Without genuine economic
and social reforms wom*n will
continue to bear the brunt of
discrimination and inequality.
Ending violence against wom*n
and girls must form a core part
of our work, this must include
ensuring safety in workplaces,
schools and universities. We
support domestic violence
leave as a fundamental right at
work and will work to ensure
adequate funding for wom*n’s
shelters and legal services.
Every wom*n must have
the right to make decisions
about her body, and this
means equal access to sexual
26
and reproductive services.
Abortion is not yet affordable,
accessible or even legal across
Australia. That must change.
We must decriminalise abortion
and make sure that exclusion
zones around reproductive
health services are legislated.
Contraception is an essential
part of healthcare and should
be accessible, effective, safe,
free and confidential in our
public health system.
If we’re serious about
increasing the number of
wom*n in the workforce, and
breaking down employment
barriers, we need to move
beyond just maternity leave. It
needs to be extended, it needs
to be expanded and it needs to
be gender neutral.
 It’s 2018 and tampons and
pads are considered a non-
essential “luxury” product. The
tampon tax is an economic
burden that overwhelmingly
impacts wom*n. Axe the tax
and make access to sanitary
items free and universal.
Universal Child Care
Most childcare is privately
run, expensive and hard to
access. Since 2012, prices
have increased faster than
either housing or electricity.
It is difficult or impossible for
many parents to find a space.
Waiting lists can be very long,
especially for high-quality
services.
Just like school education,
early education and child care
is a fundamental right. Right
27
now, for many families, early
education and child care is
just for those who can afford
to pay. Like school, child care
should be public, universal,
and free.
This isn’t just a pipe dream.
There is already a model of
low cost, fair-waged and
high quality child care being
delivered by many local
councils across the country.
Local government, with its
close connections to the
community is the ideal level
of government to oversight
an expanded public child
care system. To deliver on
this promise it will need real
autonomy in setting rates
and significant infrastructure
assistance from state and
federal governments.
 Stop the sell off of public
assets
Successive Labor and Liberal
government’s have engaged
in an unprecedented sell-off of
our public land, electricity
network, public transport
services and historic public
buildings. Meanwhile essential
public services like caring
for foster children and even our
land titles system are
contracted out to private
providers. If it’s not nailed
down they’ll sell it.
The Greens believe that public
ownership of public
infrastructure and services is a
fundamental part of a
fair and prosperous
democracy. Whether it is
28
transport, education, health,
childcare or open space,
public ownership means we
can prioritise collective goals
such as justice, equity and the
environment.
Public ownership of services is
democratic and accountable; it
gives us a means to look after
some of the most vulnerable
in our community. The Greens
believe that access to quality
education and health care are
a fundamental right, regardless
of where you live or how much
you earn. Public education
and Medicare are part of the
essential glue that binds us
together as a just society.
We need to break down
the conservative myth that
 privatisation is just about
converting public assets and
that we all benefit from the
cash when they are sold. T
he claim we will all benefit from
the cash grab when public
assets are sold. History proves
that whether it’s our electricity
bills, train fares or health care
fees we all end up paying for
privatisation, and a select few
benefit from the profits.
The Greens are committed
to keeping public services
in public hands. We want
our railways to be built with
public money, our kids to go
to quality public schools and
public servants not private
corporations, delivering
government services.
For us it is about building new
public institutions not just
saving the furniture. Imagine a
new national bank with
people as equal and valued
owners, a public housing trust
that builds thousands of public
homes and free public
education at schools, TAFEs
and universities that put their
private competitors to shame.
This can be our future, we can
29
demand an end to privatisation
and then organise to achieve it.
Free, universal and reliable
public transport
Public transport is a basic
service, but in NSW it’s too
often expensive, slow and
unreliable. In the regions
it’s often non-existent. This
forces more people to drive,
makes traffic worse, parking
harder, causes more pollution,
increases stress and costs us
money.
The Greens believe that a
family shouldn’t have to pay
more to catch a bus into the
city or the shops to drive.
Travellers shouldn’t have to
plan hours in advance just to
travel two suburbs. The cost
of delivering universal and
free public transport would
be small compared to the
billions spent on road projects
like Westconnex, which just
encourages more driving and
increases congestion. It would
also free up wasted resources
from ticketing and enforcement
and allow these to be spent
instead on more and better
services.
 At half a billion dollars a
kilometre, private motorway
projects in Sydney like
Westconnex are literally
draining the money from more
sustainable public transport
projects across the state.
It is time to shift the money
allocated from private urban
motorways to public transport
in the city and regional NSW.
With this level of funding we
could immediately restore
and extend the northern nsw
rail system and the Newcastle
rail line and build a rail bridge
across Shoalhaven. It’s
not just the service that’s
important, it’s also about who
delivers it, public or private.
Our demand must be for a
public transport system that
30
serves the public and not
shareholders. The privatisation
of train and bus services in
Sydney and Newcastle must
be reversed.
Free Higher Education
We don’t need to make HECs
debts smaller, we need to
abolish them. Free education
is achievable. We had free
education in Australia when
we were far less wealthy as
a nation in 1974, and we can
have it again now.
Everyone has the right to
education, but that right
can’t be fully realised until
everyone has access to free
higher education. It opens up
opportunities for people who
might otherwise be unable
 to afford it and reframes how
we view education; as an
institution for knowledge,
not just a worker producing
factory.
We can find the money to
fund free education for all-
it’s in the pockets of the
corporations that pay $0 in
tax; it’s in the billions spent on
defence; and it’s in the billions
spent inhumanely locking up
refugees on Manus Island and
Nauru.
We know that access to
TAFE delivers economic and
social opportunity. We have
seen how increased fees and
reduced government support
have badly damaged TAFE and
in turn damaged economic
opportunities for young people
across the state. The Greens
can be proud of our long-
standing policy to redirect
every public dollar from private
vocational training to TAFE.
We have shown leadership
and driven the save TAFE
campaign.
We need the same leadership
in the campaign for universal
31
free university education. No
one should be burdened by
crippling student debt. Just
as with TAFE, free public
university education provides
essential economic and social
opportunities. This requires an
inspiring plan for a universally
accessible higher education
system that is free and and
open to people from all
backgrounds.
Stop the flow of public
money to private schools
Children deserve the same
chance in life no matter how
much money their families
have. Private schools
entrench inequality. Giving
billions in federal and state
funding to private schools
ensures that the children
born with the most privilege
have the most advantageous
educational experience. This is
inexcusable.
This is not just a federal
government issue. Every
year the NSW government
delivers at least $1.2 billion
to private schools. Many of
these private schools have
lavish facilities with multiple
 gymnasiums, swimming pools
and performing arts centres.
Meanwhile the government
says it does not have the funds
to replace the thousands of
demountable classrooms
or to put air conditioning in
public schools. It’s time to
unambiguously prioritise
public schools as the most
effective and respected way of
providing economic and social
opportunities to all children.
Every child deserves the
same education opportunity,
regardless of where they live or
what their parents do for work.
The massive savings from
ending government funding
of private schools can be
redirected to public schools.
Finland routinely tops rankings
of global education systems
and has no private schools.
32
When money is invested
according to need everyone
benefits.
Universal Housing
We would never accept a
government turning hundreds
of thousands of children
away from schools, patients
from hospitals or demanding
exorbitant amounts of money
for basic services, so why do
we accept homelessness and
unregulated profiteering from
housing?
Just like healthcare and
education, housing is a right,
not just a way for property
barons and investors to make
profit. Every state government
must adopt a policy of
providing decent public
housing to everyone who
needs it. It’s that simple.
 Empty Homes Levy
How can we allow thousands
of homes to be left vacant
while so many struggle to
find an affordable place to
live? Property developers and
wealthy investors deliberately
keep homes vacant because it
is profitable to do so under our
rigged housing system. Tax
incentives and ever increasing
property values create housing
stress for the disadvantaged.
We need an empty homes
levy, to be set by local councils
and applied to properties
intentionally kept vacant and
not advertised for rent or sale.
The revenue raised will help
fund community housing. The
Liberal, National and Labor
parties take millions from the
33
property industry each year.
They will never fix the rigged
system that leaves thousands
of people struggling to find an
affordable place to live while a
few property developers and
wealthy investors deliberately
keep homes vacant. Like
health care and education,
housing is a right, not just a
way for the property industry
to make money.
Putting democracy back in
the rigged planning system
Putting planning decisions in
the hands of communities is
essential if we want planning in
the public interest not just for
developer gain.
Property developer donations
have been banned under NSW
law since 2009, but loopholes
 in the law are being exploited
to to exert political influence.
Companies work around the
legal definition of a property
developer or payments are
made to the the federal
division of a party because
there are no corresponding
federal bans on developer
donations.
Meriton, one of Australia’s
largest property developers
has given over $220,000 to
the Liberal party since the
“ban” came in. Meriton is run
by one of the richest men in
Australia and just made $1.7
billion in profit off the back of
favourable planning decisions
and developer friendly policies.
Is it any wonder then that
Labor and the Liberal Party
consistently vote together to
remove democratic oversight
from the planning system?
They have taken the power
to oversee development
applications from
democratically elected
councillors and handed it
to property industry run
“independent planning
panels.”
34
This is seeing technocrats
approving developments that
destroy our suburbs and cities.
We want to give communities
back the right to have the final
say over the shape of their
neighbourhoods. We believe
this is a basic democratic right.
Labor, the Liberals and the
Nationals in NSW and federally
took over $2.5 million from
property developers in just
the last financial year. These
parties represent an elite
few from whom they rake in
millions.
The Greens have a plan to
clean up politics and close
the loophole that is killing our
democracy. The system is
rigged so property developers
get what they want at the
expense of the rest of us.
We can stop our
neighbourhoods being
ruined to make profits for
a greedy few. The ban on
donations at a state level
is being circumvented. We
need nationally consistent
laws bans corporate
donations especially from
sectors prone to corruption
 like property development,
gambling, mining, alcohol and
pharmaceutical industries.
Renters rights
Right now we have a whole
generation being locked out
of ever owning a home while
renters are getting a raw deal
in an overstressed housing
market. Landlords and real
estate agents have all the
power while renters face
insecurity from rent rises,
evictions and precarious
employment.
Renters are often too scared
to even report basic repairs
for fear of an eviction or being
placed on a blacklist, people
are making do in sub-standard
properties because ‘no
grounds’ evictions make them
35
feel powerless.
Renters should be able to stay
in their rental properties for as
long as they like if they follow
the rules and pay their rent.
The Greens are already doing
great work in this area that
needs to be given more
prominence. Housing is a
human right and renters need
to be put before landlords and
dodgy real estate agents.
Criminal Justice Reform
Too often, we see the
criminal justice system
being weaponised against
minority groups. First Nations
Peoples are incarcerated at
a disproportionate rate. Ad
hoc laws are used to force the
homeless out of sight rather
 than addressing the growing
housing crisis in our state.
Culturally and linguistically
diverse groups are profiled
and marginalised by Orwellian
style laws introduced under the
guise of ‘anti-terror’ legislation.
As a progressive party, we
need to recognise that the
legal system as it stands,
entrenches disadvantage and
injustice. It enables state-
sanctioned violence against
minorities. In keeping with
our peace and non-violence
pillar, we need to find a better
way. We need a legal system
that protects the safety of all;
not just the interests of the
rich. We need a system that
recognises the impacts of
structural disadvantage and
actively works to address that
disadvantage and produce
equitable outcomes.
Drug law reform
Our drug laws unfairly target
Aboriginal people, young
people and the working
class. Illicit drug offences are
the second most common
reason for imprisonment but
there is no evidence that this
36
punitive approach helps the
community.
We need to stop using drug
detection dogs at music
festivals, train stations and
bars. The dogs get it wrong
up to 80% of the time but
police use them as a pretense
to conduct humiliating strip
searches. Our drug driving
laws currently test for a small
set of drugs and test for the
mere presence of a substance
- potentially weeks after you
smoked a joint. These laws
should instead target all drugs
at levels that actually relate
to impairment, as with breath
testing for alcohol.
Ultimately we need to rethink
drug prohibition entirely. Just
as with the failed experiment
of alcohol prohibition, we know
that people will continue to use
drugs regardless of what the
law says. Prohibition creates
organised crime, stigmatises
people who use drugs and
directs resources towards
ineffective law enforcement
rather than drug education and
healthcare which save lives.
We should follow the lead of
many US states by legalising
 and regulating cannabis, and
remove criminal sanctions for
possession of small quantities
of all drugs for personal use.
Certain drugs such as ecstasy
are relatively safe but their use
becomes more dangerous
through unsafe production
methods and a lack of
consumer information. The
government should explore
avenues to regulate production
and supply to ensure safety.
Strengthening democracy
Lowering the voting age to 16
By disenfranchising 16 and
17-year-olds from the vote
the political establishment has
demonstrated to a generation
of young people that they
don’t take their views seriously.
37
For too long the political
establishment has excluded
young people from our
democratic process. At 16 you
can pay tax. At 17 you can join
the army and drive. Why can’t
you have a say in decisions
that impact you? Tens of
thousands of young people are
denied the right to vote. We
need a democracy that works
for all of us.
One vote one value
The power of a person’s vote
in Local Council elections has
been eroded by giving property
owners a vote in every council
they run a business or own a
property.
Worse still, every corporation
that runs a business, owns a
 property or leases premises
also gets a vote. In the City of
Sydney they get two votes!
Politics should put people
rather than for profit enterprise
at the heart of decision. We
need to fix this rigged system
that gives more weight to
interests of business than to
communities and the people
that live in them. One person,
one vote and only where they
live. No corporation should
ever have the vote. Anywhere.
Public funding of elections
Greater public funding for
elections would make the
democratic process fairer and
more transparent. It would
help loosen the stranglehold
corporations have over our
politics by reducing party
38
reliance on their donations.
Political parties should be
banned from accepting
any money from private
businesses. There needs to
be a ban on donations from
for-profit organisations, a
strict cap on donations from
individuals and a limit on
election expenditure. Politics
should be a contest of ideas,
not a battle of $$$.
Democratic local government
The Coalition has rammed
through forced amalgamations
to make Councils less
responsive to residents. These
forced amalgamations must
be reversed and genuinely
local councils given expanded
powers and responsibilities.
In this way our goal of
participatory democracy will
 come closer to realisation.
Participatory budgeting for
state government and local
councils
Government budgets should
be open, transparent,
democratic and reflective of
the needs of people, not a
secret plan delivered for the
biggest media bang.
Participatory budgeting brings
the community into the budget
making process. It considers
different spending priorities in
collaborative workshops and
gives ordinary people a real
says in budget allocations.
Done well, it directly responds
to the needs and local
knowledge of the community.
Under the current system
the projects which receive
funding aren’t always the
ones that ordinary residents
would consider to be most
worthwhile. If ordinary people
were given a say, can you ever
image a government allocating
$2.5 billion to knock down
and then rebuild two sports
stadiums?
By using a more democratic
39
process where residents
have a direct say, we can
reduce the risk of arbitrary
or corrupt decision-making.
More importantly, we are
encouraging people to share
and compare their ideas about
the kinds of changes they want
to see in their community.
Through community
voting, people can practice
deliberative decision-making
skills that can then be applied
to other areas of life and to
other government decisions.
Protecting ALL public forests
The Greens in NSW have
always played a proud part
in the campaign to end the
logging of state forests. In
more recent years the Greens
have developed a widely
acknowledged pathway to
protect state forests in a way
that delivers greatly improved
environment and economic
outcomes for regional NSW.
Working with forestry
campaigners and regional
Greens, our plan will see all
high conservation state forests
immediately transferred into
 the National Park estate. The
balance of the State Forest
estate will then be managed
with the primary goal of
environmental restoration and
protection.
However this part of the
estate will also provide greater
access to environmentally
sustainable visitation including
iconic walking tracks, forest
adventure parks, mountain
bike trails and, where
appropriate, small scale
sustainable accommodation
options.
Building a movement that
protects every state forest from
damaging logging requires a
campaign that excites regional
NSW. Our forestry plan
demonstrates how regional
40
communities have far more to
gain from protecting forests
than logging them. It’s strength
comes from combining our
strengths of economic and
environmental justice.
A new national bank
A royal commission into the
banking sector won’t stop the
banks putting profit before
people. Tighter regulations
may rein in the worst excesses
but banks have shown us
time and time again they are
ingenious at finding new ways
to exploit their customers.
If just some of the massive
assets banks possess were
publicly owned they could be
used for the good of the entire
community, not just provide
 profits for the finance and
insurance industries. If we
returned the Commonwealth
Bank to public hands, or
created a new national public
bank as a major new player,
we would break the big four’s
monopoly control of financial
markets.
We could use some of the
funds to build schools and
for hospitals, clean energy
projects instead of new coal
mines and coal seam gas
developments.
Banks in public hands, under
community control, could
provide essential services to
ordinary people to meet human
needs.
We could put an end to
41
obscene executive salaries,
price gouging and unethical
lending practices.
Respecting the creatures we
share this planet with
The same profit-driven
mentality that destroys native
forests and drives down
peoples wages also views
animals as nothing more than
potential profit. The increasing
corporatisation of agriculture is
driving more industrial cruelty
in animal production.
Feedlots, sow stalls and caged
chickens are just the most
extreme outcomes from a food
production system that only
has regard for the price per
unit of meat, milk or eggs it
produces.
 Small changes on animal
welfare are achievable under
the current system. We
have seen that with modest
improvements in some of the
conditions of some of the
millions of animals raised and
killed to feed our society.
But while ever the basic
dignity of animals in our food percent (Pittwater) to as low as
production system is mainly
governed by price and profit
these changes will be marginal. conditioning and a better place
We need to end corporate
control of our food system
to have any real chance of
sustainable improvements in
animal welfare.
Caps on CEO salaries
The average CEO earns 78
times more than the average
worker. Meanwhile the
government gave more than
$47 billion of public money to
the private sector in contracts
in 2016-17. This has more than
doubled in five years.
Why do we accept that some
CEOs earn $5, $10 or $20
million a year? Why don’t
we demand a cap on these
obscene pay packets? Maybe
42
the cap is 10 times average
earnings, mayorbe it’s 20
times, but let’s all agree it
should never be 78 times
more.
Targets for Tree Canopies
In Sydney tree canopy cover
rates range from as high as 59
12 percent (Botany). More tree
cover means less heat, less air
to live. In Sydney the rate of
tree canopy cover closely
relates to income levels. This
reinforces inequality and
doesn’t have to be our future.
The less tree cover in a
neighbourhood the higher
the rate rates of ambulance
call outs during heatwaves.
The less tree cover in a
neighbourhood, the more the
people spend on power bills.
Trees around buildings reduces
air-conditioner use by up to 30
percent. They clean the air and
provide a space for nature.
Business as usual has Sydney
on track to have 50 degree
days by 2040. If tree cover
remains as is and remains
 unevenly distributed across the
city, people’s lives will be put
in jeopardy. Right now it’s the
richer neighbourhoods where
people with the resources to
influence policy live, that has
the best tree cover.
Tree targets should be
spread equally across the
city, urban forests and green
space should be a part every
neighbourhood no matter
where you live in our cities.
No handouts of public money
to churches
Scrapping tax breaks for
churches would generate
$390 million over 4 years. The
Hillsong Church for example
takes in $100 million a year all
of it tax free.
As the law stands now there is
no requirement for a religious
organisation to demonstrate
any public benefit for their
activities. Just because
an institution is declared
‘religious’ does not mean all
the work it does is charitable.
The Catholic Church for
example spent endless funds
43
denying justice and redress
to victims of sexual abuse,
The Anglican Church gave $1
million to the No campaign
opposing marriage equality.
Churches have threatened
to fire staff on the basis of
their sexuality. The Church of
Scientology, which has been
denied religious status in the
US, France and Germany,
spends its tax free harshly
disciplining its members.
Much work by churches
such as running refuges
and hospitals is charitable.
However other aspects such
as real estate development,
land deals and banking and
insurance is not. As it is a
blanket tax exemption means
religious institutions are not
paying their fair share.
This needs to end. While
a Church is engaged in
charitable work feeding
the poor, healing the sick
or helping those in need of
course they should have tax
free status. But if they are
building a five star hotel in
Rome or becoming a property
developer in Sutherland they
must be taxed.
 Conclusion
The only thing that holds us
back from greater success is
a lack of imagination to stand
by all four of our pillars. We
live at an exciting time in local
and global politics. People
are asking some fundamental
questions about the structure
of society, the role of
government and the purpose
of our economies.
The path of moderate
mainstream politics that
surrenders social justice goals
has proven to be a dead end
for the Greens, and for social
democratic parties, around
the world. Artificially limiting
our campaigns to just the
environment will inevitably
relegate us to being a minor
player in politics.
44
More and more people want a
party that challenges corporate
power, delivers a universal
basic income, caps CEO
salaries, taxes billionaires
and gives people a say in the
future of their cities. They also
want a party that has its door
open to unions, environment
organisation and social
movements but has it firmly
shut to corporate lobbyists.
We will always stand up for
nature, campaign for real
action on climate change and
protect trees. The community
gets that, but they want a
party that combines social and
environmental justice.
Take a look around the barren
landscape of Australian politics
and you realise only the
Greens can be that party.