RESEARCH PAPER NO. 7, 2011–12, 8 February 2012

Balancing act: the Australian Greens 2008–2011

Dr Joy McCann
Politics and Public Administration Section

Executive summary

•          In 2008 the Parliamentary Library published The rise of the Australian Greens which discussed the emergence of environmental politics in Australia, analysed the characteristics of Greens’ voters, and speculated as to whether the Australian Greens party would ever be more than ‘positioned on the edge’ of mainstream politics.

•          In the 2010 federal election, the Australian Greens emerged with the balance of power in the Senate and shared balance of power in the House of Representatives in the first hung federal parliament in Australia for 70 years.  As a result, the ALP entered into an agreement with the Greens in order to secure the party’s commitment to a stable government during the 43rd Commonwealth Parliament.

•          The increased visibility of the Australian Greens at a national level has generated greater public scrutiny and debate about the implications of the Greens’ policy agenda for Australia, and exposed a lingering confusion about the true ideological nature of the party.

•          The party has a distinctive political culture and values with a ‘grassroots’ organisational structure reflecting its origins in social and environmental movements and citizen-led activism.

•          The party’s federal electoral success has also highlighted the way in which the Greens are engaged in a ‘balancing act’, both externally, as a coalition partner with the Labor government and as the balance-of-power party in the Senate, and internally, between the pragmatists and idealists within its membership.

This paper updates and expands the 2008 paper. It presents a brief introduction to the structure, ideological underpinnings and policies of the Australian Greens, and includes a brief history of the development of Green politics internationally and in Australia. It focuses on the party’s electoral fortunes and parliamentary activities from 2008 to the end of the first year of the 43rd Commonwealth Parliament. It does not examine the nature, history or perceptions of other parties or individuals, except where comment is necessary in order to explain an aspect of their relationship with the Australian Greens.

Party abbreviations

ALP | Australian Labor Party
CLP | Country Liberal Party
DEM | Australian Democrats
DLP | Democratic Labor Party
GRN | Australian Greens
GWA | The Greens (WA) Inc
IND | Independent
LIB | Liberal Party of Australia
NAT | The Nationals
NDP | Nuclear Disarmament Party
ONP | One Nation

Introduction

The federal election conducted on 21 August 2010 marked a significant new chapter in Australia’s political and parliamentary history. The 43rd parliament became Australia’s first ‘hung’ Commonwealth Parliament and minority government for almost 70 years. It reflected the electorate’s unwillingness to hand a clear mandate to the major parties in either chamber, and produced a minority Labor government supported by a mix of three independents and one Greens’ member. The election was the first in which a major party was led by a woman. It gave the House of Representatives its first Indigenous and first Muslim members of parliament. It also confirmed the emergence of the Australian Greens as a ‘third force’ in Australian politics, with the party winning a seat and shared balance of power in the House of Representatives, and assuming the balance of power in its own right in the Senate from 1 July 2011.

The Australian Greens, formed as a national party in 1992, won almost 13 per cent of the national vote in the Senate at the 2010 election. The result represented a gain of four per cent to the Greens since the 2007 election.[1] Four new Greens’ senators—Larissa Waters (Queensland), Penny Wright (South Australia), Richard Di Natale (Victoria), and Lee Rhiannon (New South Wales)— took up their seats in the Senate on 1 July 2011, bringing the total number of Greens senators to nine. They joined Senators Bob Brown and Christine Milne for Tasmania (where the Greens received more than one-fifth of that state’s Senate vote), Scott Ludlam and Rachel Siewert for Western Australia, and Sarah Hanson-Young for South Australia. The Greens achieved representation in every Australian state in the Senate, a first for any Australian minor party.[2]

The Greens also achieved an electoral first in the House of Representatives by winning 11.76 per cent of the primary vote, the highest proportion of votes for a third party in the history of the Australian Parliament, exceeding the Australian Democrats’ 1990 electoral achievement of 11.3 per cent.[3] These achievements have contributed to the new political landscape in the federal parliament. They have also generated considerable public interest in and debate about the nature of the Greens and their relationship with the major parties.

This paper outlines the Australian Greens’ distinctive organisational structure, discusses the ideas and values that underpin the party’s policy agenda, and examines its electoral fortunes and parliamentary performance from 2008 to the end of the first year of the 43rd Parliament on 22 September 2011. It also charts public perceptions of, and challenges facing, the Australian Greens as a balance-of-power party. The paper is not intended to be a comprehensive analysis, but rather aims to present an overview of events and issues within the context of trends in ‘green’ politics both nationally and internationally.

Defining the Australian Greens

Organisation

The Greens have sought to establish an organisational structure and political culture that sets them apart from traditional party politics in Australia. The Australian Greens is not a single national party, but rather comprises a confederation of eight autonomous state and territory parties that subscribe to a common philosophy and set of principles outlined in the Australian Greens Charter and National Constitution.[4] The Australian Greens National Council, consisting of representatives from each of the state and territory organisations, is responsible for making decisions on national policy, whilst the state divisions are responsible for developing policy and selecting candidates. Within the party there is considerable emphasis on active participation in local branches by MPs and members. These local branches have considerable autonomy in campaigning, putting forward candidates for election, and determining the allocation of their preferences at national elections.

As with Green parties in Europe, the party’s ‘grassroots’ organisational structure reflects its origins in social and environmental movements and citizen-led activism.[5] Mainstream political parties have tended to be organised around clear lines of decision-making and authority, with a powerful national party machine, a parliamentary elite and relatively weak member involvement. The Greens have adopted a decentralised structure. The party’s constitution places considerable emphasis on ‘participatory, democratic and accountable internal decision making processes’, similar to the strong focus on member participation adopted by the Australian Democrats.[6] The party’s organisational arrangements are designed to deliver a more devolved, consensual approach to decision-making, where elected members have the autonomy to express their views in a ‘free’ vote, even where they may be in conflict with party policy.[7] The constitution provides for ten per cent of the membership to call for a plebiscite on policy issues, and the right to petition the National Council for reviews of national policy.

The federal structure, as in Europe, has been an important organisational feature of the Australian Greens, enabling them to establish themselves from a grassroots base and build upon this for federal politics.[8] As political scientist, Narelle Miragliotta has observed, the Greens, both here and in Europe, have ‘undergone some form of structural transformation’ in their efforts to attract members and achieve parliamentary representation.[9] In Australia, the Greens have demonstrated a capacity for ‘political expedience’ by adopting some of the organising principles and behaviours of traditional party politics. In 2005, for example, Bob Brown was elected as parliamentary leader of the federated Greens, contrary to the party’s collective leadership model. In 2011, Senator Brown reignited a long-standing debate about whether the party should move from a federated structure to a single national party in order to appear more ‘united and professional’ in the federal political arena.[10] The experience of the German Greens, however, also suggests that a federalist model can cause tensions, particularly between the party’s participatory decision-making model and the pressure to centralise leadership and power.[11] Such tensions were apparent, for example, over the NSW Greens support for military trade and services boycotts against Israel as part of their 2011 NSW state election campaign. In response Senator Brown, noting his differences with the NSW Greens over the matter, advised the state party to leave ‘national matters to the national arena’.[12]

Ideology

Much has been written in recent years about the beliefs and ideas that underpin the Australian Greens as a political party, reflecting their increased visibility in parliamentary decision-making and attempts by commentators to understand the party’s ideological agenda in terms of Australia’s political traditions. Some commentators assign the Greens to the centre Left of the political spectrum.[13] Others have identified the Greens as ‘ecological Marxists’, referring to an apparent anti-modernist stance that recalls the Communist Party of the 1950s.[14] Some see the influence of the Protectionist tradition of Australian liberalism that emerged under Australia’s second Prime Minister Alfred Deakin in the decade following Federation.[15] Clive Hamilton, the Greens’ candidate in the 2009 Higgins by-election, explained the Greens philosophy as an ‘ethic of care’ embodying ‘many of the social values that defined Australia after World War II’, with philosophical roots in the classical virtues described by Plato.[16] According to the Australian Greens’ Charter, the party seeks ‘to further a vision of the world characterised by peace and nonviolence, social justice, grassroots participatory democracy and ecological sustainability’.[17]

The party’s core belief in the centrality of the environment is one of the most significant points of difference with the major parties. For the Greens, human beings are part of the natural world, not above it.[18] In contrast, the established ideological traditions of liberalism, conservatism and socialism in Western democracies place humans at the centre of things and as the source of all value. A core question is how the Greens’ eco-centric philosophy translates into practice within the Australian national parliamentary setting, particularly when dealing with the complexities of government decision-making in the public interest. As Greens Senator and Deputy Leader, Christine Milne, has described it:

The tug of war between those who want to change the basic assumption and those whose vested interests rely on no change being made is the history of Green politics for the past 36 years. Greens around the world have been developing policies and models designed to overcome the disconnection between this constructed world of traditional politics and economics and the real world of nature and natural ecosystems for decades.[19]

The Australian Greens portray themselves as ‘neither Left nor Right’, recalling Petra Kelly’s invocation of the German Greens as the ‘anti-party party’.[20] In part, this reflects the Greens’ origins in the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s that gave rise to an organisation that, paradoxically, operates within the traditional political party system, whilst openly challenging it. To be an effective player within the parliamentary arena, however, Greens’ parliamentarians have found it necessary to strike a balance between the party’s grassroots democratic principles and the need to adhere to parliamentary rules and procedures. Since they aspire to becoming a ‘real alternative’ to the dominant political parties in Australia, they have demonstrated a willingness to compromise on certain principles and to enter into parliamentary alliances if it serves their longer-term objectives. Conversely, the Greens have also found it helpful at times to embrace their radical image. As one commentator put it:

It would seem that the radical label has proven a handy device by which the Greens have established brand recognition and boosted their public profile. The Greens have shown an aptitude to harness what is potentially a negative trait and use it to their political advantage.[21]

The Australian Greens are likely to be constantly challenged, as Green parties have found in Europe, to ‘demonstrate both that they have not been completely de-radicalised, either ideologically or organisationally, and that their presence in government can make a difference by advancing at least some parts of the Green policy agenda’.[22] Authors of a 2009 study examining the Australian Greens’ experiences in parliament found a party undergoing rapid organisational reform, as its parliamentary representatives sought to remain true to their ideological cause whilst professionalising their party, participating in government and surviving electorally.[23] They also identified inherent tensions as Greens MPs sought to reconcile their parliamentary and legislative roles with their roots in social and environmental activism.

Policies

The Greens’ radicalism finds strong expression in the postmaterialist philosophies and principles which underscore the party’s policies. They are underpinned by the belief, common to Green parties worldwide, that the economic paradigm of modern capitalism and consumerism is the source of destruction of the natural world and inequality amongst people and societies. The political scientist Ronald Inglehart’s theory of postmaterialism, formulated in the 1970s, argued that the relative stable political conditions, affluence and higher levels of education experienced by post-war generations in Western countries had contributed to a shift in values, ‘from an overwhelming emphasis on material well-being and physical security toward greater emphasis on the quality of life’.  According to Inglehart, postmaterialist values played a crucial factor in the emergence of the new social movements from the 1960s, promoting a sense of community and concern for quality of the environment. Support for the West German Green party in the 1980s, for example, was found to come disproportionately from these ‘postmaterialist’ generations.[24] The same trends have been detected more recently in Australia. As analyses of data from the Australian Electoral Study for 2001, 2004 and 2007 elections show Australian Greens supporters are likely to be younger, university-educated, urban-based, and more politically Left-of-centre than supporters of other parties.[25]

An analysis of the Australian Greens’ policies shows a strategic broadening and mainstreaming of the party’s policy agenda since the formation of the Nuclear Disarmament Party, Australia’s first national ‘green’ party, in 1984. Environmental issues dominated the Labor-Greens Accord in Tasmania in 1989–92 but, by the 2007 Commonwealth election, the Australian Greens were campaigning with 43 policies on subjects ranging from the environment, climate change and energy, agriculture and natural resources, and a sustainable economy, to ‘care for people’ and human rights and democracy. The Greens claimed that the scope of this policy agenda was largely ignored by the media in favour of reporting on the party’s environmental policies.[26] The 2008 ACT Labor-Greens Agreement reflected an increasing emphasis on pursuing parliamentary and social reforms, a strategy strongly evident in the Labor-Greens Agreement following the 2010 Commonwealth election.[27]

During the 2010 federal election campaign, the Greens’ policies came in for far greater scrutiny than in previous elections. For example, the Australian Broadcasting Commission presented the party’s seven key policy areas (Education, Immigration, Health, Climate Change, Parental Leave, Internet and the Economy) and compared them with those of the major parties.[28] In June 2011, on the eve of the party assuming the balance of power in the Senate, Bob Brown used a National Press Club address to draw attention to the policies that set the Greens apart from the major parties. These included some of the more controversial issues including the rights of the ACT and Northern Territory to legislate for voluntary euthanasia, marriage regardless of sexuality or gender identity, onshore processing of asylum seekers, and ending the exploration, mining and export of uranium. He called for Australia to join an international campaign for a global parliament or people’s assembly to tackle international issues based on the principle of one person, one vote, one value. He reminded his audience of the party’s ‘runs on the board’ since signing the Labor–Greens post-election agreement in 2010 including support for a referenda to recognise Indigenous Australians and local government in the Constitution. He also highlighted the role of the Greens as an ’ideas bank in parliament’, and applauded the success of the Greens’ campaign to put a carbon price and clean energy ‘on the nation’s political agenda’.[29] The party showcased its policies by allocating responsibility for 69 portfolios across the Greens’ nine Senators and one MP.[30] 

This broadening of the Greens’ policy agenda has created vigorous public debate and media commentary. In July 2011, Connor Court Publishing launched one of the first books to critically examine Greens policies. Its editor Andrew McIntyre lamented the lack of media scrutiny of Greens’ policies, and stressed the need for an ‘informed, objective examination’ of the policies and their practical implications since there was little understanding of what the Greens ‘actually stand for’.[31] The expert contributors to his book roundly condemned the Greens’ policy agenda, variously describing aspects of it as economically irresponsible, ‘naive’, ‘internally contradictory’, and ‘morally and socially unsound’. Such critiques highlight the contested nature of the Greens’ agenda in Australia. They also serve to illustrate that there is a lingering confusion about the ideological identity of the Greens’ party. As one media commentator put it following the 2010 elections, the party is ‘a fraudulent brand … It is simply not a party preoccupied with the environment’.[32] However, the expansive policy agenda also reflects the changing support base for the Greens, with the state and territory Greens parties often luring voters disillusioned with traditional party politics in response to the perception that the major parties are losing touch with their ideological roots. Researchers have tended to link the rise of the Greens to this longer term process of ‘political dealignment’, although a recent analysis of the Australian Election Study data suggests that Greens’ voters are far more ‘demographically and ideologically defined’ than the previous balance-of-power’ party, the Australian Democrats.[33]

Green politics

Environmental politics has a long history in Australia.[34] With British colonisation in the late eighteen century came the demand for building materials and food. In colonial society, the exploitation of natural resources rapidly became a matter for utilitarian and ethical concern. Colonial governments began passing laws to create timber and water reserves and to protect popular beauty spots. According to environmental lawyer Tim Bonyhady, an environmental aesthetic is ‘deeply embedded’ in our culture, although our governments have always struggled to establish ‘enduring environmental regimes’.[35] Nevertheless, recent research suggests that the environment has become an integral part of the mainstream political culture in Australia, particularly amongst the younger, post-war generations.[36]

In Australia and other developed nations the environment emerged, or rather re-emerged, as a significant policy issue in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Many of the early activists who later became involved in green party politics were also caught up in the ‘counterculture’ of the 1960s which promoted radical ideas about social reform as a way to counter the negative impacts of capitalism such as consumerism and pollution. Groups formed to agitate for political change in response to the threat of nuclear warfare, evidence of ecological degradation, and the reports published in such journals as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Limits to Growth and The Ecologist magazine’s Blueprint for Survival. Green politics evolved into a global phenomenon, underpinned by a common set of environmental beliefs and values, yet also shaped by the domestic politics and nationalistic concerns of each country.[37] Green politics has been described as the first political movement to be ‘so informed by and grounded in modern science’.[38]

By the 1970s, anti-logging campaigns in Tasmania and the ‘green bans’ in urban Sydney were making front-page news, signalling the emergence of an increasingly politicised conservation movement in Australia. The United Tasmania Group (UTG), widely acknowledged as the world’s first ‘ecological political party’, was created in 1972—its members galvanised by the Tasmanian Government’s proposal to flood Lake Pedder as part of its hydro-electric power scheme.[39] The UTG narrowly missed winning a seat in the 1972 Tasmanian state election and the party disbanded, but its campaign marked the beginning of green politics in Australia and inspired the creation of Green parties elsewhere.

Across the Tasman, the Values Party contested the 1972 New Zealand general election. Whilst unsuccessful, its campaign laid the groundwork for the eventual formation of the New Zealand Greens. Europe’s first green party, the Popular Movement for the Environment, was also formed in 1972 in the Swiss canton of Neuchatel. Europe’s first national environmental party, PEOPLE, was founded in Britain in 1973 with an ‘anti-growth’ manifesto calling for people to live in balance with nature. It became the Ecology Party in 1975 and the Green Party in 1985. In 1979, the first Greens candidate won a seat in a national parliament when Deniel Brelaz was elected to the Swiss parliament.

However, it was Germany that became the focus of the emerging Greens movement in Western Europe. In 1983, 28 members of the German Green Party were elected to the West German parliament, their platform based on a combination of nuclear disarmament, peace activism and social reforms promoted by civil society groups associated with the Left.[40] The party’s agenda was based on four elements that have become central to green politics worldwide: ecology, social justice, peace, and grassroots democracy. Between 1998 and 2005, the German Greens were able to form a coalition government with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in a ‘red-green’ alliance. In 2001, the coalition passed radical new laws to phase out nuclear power in Germany by the end of 2021. By 2010 the German Greens were in opposition and the conservative coalition government, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU,) reversed the policy by declaring that Germany would continue to produce nuclear energy until at least 2036. [41]

By March 2011, however, events transpired to favour the German Greens. In the wake of Japan’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the failure of its Fukushima nuclear power plant, the CDU lost control of the conservative German state of Baden- Wüerttemburg to a coalition of the SDP and Greens. The new ‘minister president’, Winfried Kretschmann, was a founding member of the Greens. In the German state election in Bremen held on 22 May 2011, the CDU vote was reduced to third position behind the SPD and the Greens.[42] A week later, the German national parliament (the Bundestag) voted to shut down the country’s nuclear plants by 2022, completing a radical about-turn by the ruling CDU and effectively committing the world’s fourth largest industrial nation to a future based on renewable energy.[43]

During the first decade of the 21st century, Green parties were partners in coalition governments in Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Italy and Sweden. In some countries, the Greens forged alliances or blocs with socialist and other left-wing political parties. In 2004, the European Green Party was founded at the Fourth Congress of the European Federation of Green Parties involving 34 Green parties from across Europe. It was Europe’s first pan-European political party, and it was built on an earlier loose alliance that began contesting European Parliament elections in 1979. The party won its first seats in the European Parliament in 1984. In 2010 it was the fourth largest group in that parliament representing some 34 countries.[44]

Proportional Representation voting systems, widely used in European national elections (and in the Australian Senate and the upper house of most Australian states and territories), offer greater opportunity for minority parties such as the Greens because they enable them to win seats in direct proportion to the number of votes they secure.[45]  Indeed most Greens candidates who have succeeded in national, provincial or local government elections have been elected in multi-seat electorates, districts, constituencies or ridings where Proportional Representation is used.  Greens parties have had limited electoral success at a national level in North America and the United Kingdom where the ‘first-past-the-post’ or Simple Majority voting system is widely considered to be a barrier to the election of minor party candidates. Despite this, in the 2010 British general election, the Greens won their first seat in the House of Commons and, in 2011, the Canadian Greens leader Elizabeth May won the first Greens’ seat in the Canadian House of Commons. The Greens have yet to win a seat in the United States Congress.

In 2001 the Global Greens, a coalition of the world’s Green parties and political movements, was formed at a congress in Canberra. Organised into four federations representing the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia–Pacific, it adopted an international Charter which set out core principles shared by all members of the Global Greens including the Australian Greens—ecological wisdom, social justice, participatory democracy, nonviolence, sustainability and respect for diversity. The Global Greens’ website offers a snapshot of how green politics is faring in elections worldwide. In 2011, the network comprised membership from 89 nations including 25 countries where Green parties were represented in the national parliament. [46] By mid–2011, Greens parties internationally held a total of 296 seats in national parliaments, including 229 seats in 17 European nations and another 67 seats in non-European nations including Australia (10), Brazil (14), Canada (1), Chad (1), Colombia (8), Madagascar (2), México (22), and New Zealand (9). There were also 46 Greens holding seats in the European Parliament.

The ‘greening’ of Australia’s parliaments

In recent years, the Australian Greens have often been referred to as the ‘third force’ in Australian politics.[47] The term ‘third force’ is generally used to describe minor political parties that win sufficient electoral support and parliamentary seats to exert a degree of influence in parliamentary decisions. The Democratic Labor Party, which emerged from the split in the Australian Labor Party in the mid-1950s, was the first so-called ‘third force’ party in Australia. It formed as a result of tensions within the Labor Party between pro- and anti-communist supporters. Since then, other significant ‘third force’ parties have emerged. Throughout the 1980s, the Australian Democrats were heralded as a new, ‘progressive, environmentally-aware third force’ in Australian politics, championing environmental issues and holding nine of the 76 Senate seats between 1999 and 2001.[48] The rise of the Democrats reflected a particular shift in ‘social consciousness’ amongst the electorate, as well as presenting itself as an alternative voice to the two-party system traditionally dominated by Labor and the Liberal–National Coalition.[49]

By the late 1990s public support for the Democrats had waned whilst the state and territory Greens’ parties’ electoral fortunes were on the rise. The Greens also gained momentum at the national level in 1990 when Jo Vallentine (Western Australia), who was initially a member of the Nuclear Disarmament Party when she entered the Senate in 1984, was re-elected to the Senate as Australia’s first Greens’ Senator in 1990. In 1992, the state-based Greens in New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania reorganised to form the Australian Greens and, over the next 11 years, Greens parties in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory formally affiliated with the Australian Greens.[50]

State and Territory parliaments[51]

Since the 1990s, the Greens have achieved varying degrees of success in state and territory elections, with the most significant gains in Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory.[52] In Tasmania, the ‘birthplace’ of the world’s first ‘green’ political party and the only state where the lower house is elected by Proportional Representation, Green candidates enjoyed a lengthy period of voter support. Independent, Norm Sanders, was elected to the House of Assembly in 1980 and is widely considered to be the first ‘green’ MP in Australia. Dr Bob Brown, former director of the Tasmanian Wilderness Society, was elected to Sanders’ seat in 1982, and he was joined by Dr Gerry Bates in 1986. The Green Independents, Christine Milne, Lance Armstrong and Di Hollister, were elected in 1989 following community opposition to the proposed Wesley Vale pulp mill.

Between 1989 and 2006, the Tasmanian Greens party won an average of 14.3 per cent of the vote over six state elections, although electoral reforms introduced by the major parties in 1998 meant a reduction in numbers in the House of Assembly. Christine Milne, the leader of the Tasmanian Greens, together with Di Hollister and Michael Foley, lost their seats, whilst Peg Putt remained as the sole Greens MP.  In 2002 the Tasmanian Greens won four seats in the House of Assembly with 18.1% of the vote statewide. The four sitting members were returned in 2006, despite a swing against the Greens. In the 2010 state election, the Tasmanian Greens won 21.3 per cent of the primary vote, securing five seats and the balance of power in Tasmania’s ‘hung’ parliament. The Labor Party formed government with the support of the Greens, and Nick McKim and Cassy O’Connor became the first Greens ministers in Australia.[53]

In the Australian Capital Territory where Proportional Representation is also used minority government has been the norm since the Territory achieved self-government in 1989. The ACT Greens formed in 1992 and sought to join the national federation of Greens. The party’s fortunes fluctuated. In the Territory’s 1998 election, the ACT Greens held the balance power with three independents. The ACT briefly returned to majority government in 2004 under Labor leader Jon Stanhope. The Greens increased their representation in the 2008 ACT election from one seat to four to gain the balance of power in the 17-member Legislative Assembly. The Greens chose to support a Labor minority government, and signed a Parliamentary Agreement to secure a range of policy commitments and government support for a Greens MP as Speaker of the Assembly.[54]

Elsewhere, the Greens’ electoral gains since 2008 have occurred, with one exception, in the state and territory chambers where the Proportional Representation electoral system is used. In the 2008 Western Australian election, the Greens increased their seats from two to four in the Legislative Council, whilst in the Northern Territory the Greens failed to win a seat.[55] In the 2008 Queensland state election, the Greens contested every seat but defended only one (Indooroopilly) after Ronan Lee defected from Labor to the Greens in October 2008.[56] In the 2010 Victorian state election, the Greens won three seats in the Legislative Council. It also received 11.21 per cent of first preference votes in the Legislative Assembly, but failed to win a seat. In the 2010 South Australian state election, the Greens won two seats in the Legislative Council and, together with Family First, scored the largest number of non-major party votes in the House of Assembly, although not enough to secure a seat.[57]

In the 2011 New South Wales election, the Greens won their first seat in the Legislative Assembly, and increased the number of seats in the Legislative Council from two to five. In the leadup to the NSW election, the NSW Greens had decided to not direct their preferences to either major party in the Legislative Council or in at least 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The NSW Greens ultimately claimed an increase of two per cent on their 2007 vote.  In September 2010, Cate Faehrmann replaced long-serving Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon, who won a Senate seat at the 2010 Commonwealth election.[58]

The federal sphere

Between 2001 and 2010, the Australian Greens gradually increased their share of first preference votes in the Senate (see Table 1.2 below). In 2004, the party increased its Senate seats from two to four with the election of high-profile former state parliamentarian Christine Milne for Tasmania and Rachel Siewert for Western Australia. It was a significant election for the Greens, displacing the Australian Democrats as the country’s fourth-largest political party in terms of the number of seats held in Commonwealth, state and territory parliaments, the proportion of votes won, and the number of party members (see Figure 1 below).[59] In the House of Representatives, Andrew Wilkie stood as a Greens’ candidate for Bennelong, Prime Minister John Howard’s seat. Whilst he did not win the seat, he polled 16 per cent of the primary vote, and achieved the fifth-highest proportion of the Greens vote Australia-wide.[60] Andrew Wilkie was nominated as the Greens’ second Tasmanian Senate candidate for the 2007 federal election behind the national leader, Bob Brown.[61]

Table 1.1:               All parties—Percentage of first preference votes in House of Representatives 1990–2010

Election | ALP | LIB | NAT | CLP | DLP | DEM | GRN | ONP | Others
24 March 1990 | 39.4 | 34.8 | 8.4 | 0.3 | .. | 11.3 | 1.4 | .. | 4.4
13 March 1993 | 44.9 | 36.8 | 7.2 | 0.3 | .. | 3.8 | 1.9 | .. | 5.2
2 March 1996 | 38.8 | 38.7 | 8.2 | 0.4 | .. | 6.8 | 2.9 | .. | 4.3
3 October 1998 | 40.1 | 33.9 | 5.3 | 0.3 | .. | 5.1 | 2.6 | 8.4 | 4.2
10 November 2001 | 37.8 | 37.1 | 5.6 | 0.3 | .. | 5.4 | 5.0 | 4.3 | 4.4
9 October 2004 | 37.6 | 40.5 | 5.9 | 0.3 | .. | 1.2 | 7.2 | 1.2 | 6.0
24 November 2007 | 43.4 | 36.3 | 5.5 | 0.3 | .. | 0.7 | 7.8 | 0.3 | 5.8
21 August 2010 | 38.0 | 30.5 | 3.7 | 0.3 | 0.04 | 0.2 | 11.8 | 0.2 | 15.3*

*Includes Liberal National Party of Queensland formed in 2008
Source: Data compiled by the Parliamentary Library from published sources[62]

Table 1.2:               All parties—Percentage of first preference votes in Senate 1990–2010

Election | ALP | LIB | NAT | CLP | DLP | DEM | GRN | ONP | Others
24 March 1990 | 38.4 | 41.9 | (a) | (a) | 0.1 | 12.6 | 2.8 | .. | 4.1
13 March 1993 | 43.5 | 43.0 | (a) | (a) | 0.4 | 5.3 | 2.9 | .. | 4.8
2 March 1996 | 36.2 | 44.0 | (a) | (a) | 0.3 | 10.8 | 3.2 | .. | 5.7
3 October 1998 | 37.3 | 37.7 | (a) | (a) | 0.3 | 8.5 | 2.7 | 9.0 | 4.6
10 November 2001 | 34.3 | 41.8 | (a) | (a) | 0.6 | 7.2 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 5.5
9 October 2004 | 35.0 | 45.1 | (a) | (a) |  | 2.1 | 7.7 | 1.7 | 8.5
24 November 2007 | 40.3 | 39.9 | (a) | (a) |  | 1.3 | 9.0 | 0.4 | 9.0
21 August 2010 | 35.1 | 38.6 | (a) | (a) | 1.1 | 0.6 | 13.1 | 0.6 | 19.2

(a) included under Liberal Party (LIB)
Source: Data compiled by the Parliamentary Library from published sources[63]

Source: Data compiled by the Parliamentary Library from published sources[64]

In 2007 the Greens’ national Senate vote increased to 9.04 per cent, and they achieved official parliamentary party status.[65] They lost the Senate seat in New South Wales, but gained a seat in South Australia to bring the party’s total to five. For the next three years, from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2010, the Greens shared the balance of power in the Senate with Family First Senator Steve Fielding and Independent Senator Nick Xenophon. From 1 July 2011 the party assumed the balance of power in the Senate in its own right as a result of the 2010 Commonwealth election.[66]

Meanwhile, as Scott Bennett observed in his analysis of the Greens in 2008, the ‘full’ preferential voting system used for elections in the House of Representatives since 1918 has made it more difficult for the Greens to win seats outright, although their preferences may be important in determining the outcome of elections.[67] Until the 2010 Commonwealth election, only six Greens’ candidates had managed to win even 20 per cent of the first preference vote in a House of Representatives election. However, the particular circumstances of individual federal elections can deliver unexpected power to minor parties. Michael Organ became the first Greens' member of the House of Representatives in a Commonwealth by-election in 2002 for the New South Wales seat of Cunningham. This was the first House seat won by a minor party since Jack Lang won Reid as a Lang Labor candidate in 1946. The Liberal Party did not contest the Cunningham by-election, and Organ gained 75.2 per cent of second preferences.[68] The WA Greens had won the WA state seat of Fremantle in similar circumstances in a by-election in 2009.

Since 1949, independents and members of minority parties have fared better in the Senate because of the Proportional Representation system of voting. As discussed above, Proportional Representation generally favours minor parties because no one candidate needs to obtain a majority of votes, as is the case in House of Representative elections.[69] The Australian Greens have been keen advocates of electoral reform that would extend the Proportional Representation voting system. According to their 2009 submission to the Electoral Reform Green Paper, Proportional Representation in the House of Representatives

... is the single most important reform for achieving true democracy in Australia, replacing single member electorates with multi-member electoral districts. The number of seats won by each party would more accurately reflect the vote obtained by respective political parties, while maintaining an appropriate degree of local representation and community access to local politicians.[70]

In the 2007 Commonwealth election, the Australian Greens fielded a candidate in each of the 150 divisions and received 7.79 per cent of the vote, a modest increase on their 2004 vote. However, with 79.7 per cent of Green preferences going to the ALP, the ALP was able to increase its two-party preferred vote to 52.7 per cent and push some struggling candidates over the line. In the 2010 Commonwealth election, Adam Bandt won the House of Representatives seat of Melbourne for the Australian Greens, benefiting from the flow of Liberal Party’s preferences to the Greens over the ALP.[71] His win, a first for the Greens in the lower house, also reflected the Greens’ ability to attract strong local support in inner-city areas.[72] The following tables illustrate the electoral fortunes of the Greens in both Chambers compared with other parties over the decade from 1990 to 2010.

Table 2.1: Green parties—national results in House of Representatives federal elections 1990–2010

Election | Party | First preference votes | % Vote | % Change from previous election | Seats won | Seats held
1990 | Greens | 142,217 | 1.4 | - | 0 | 0
1993 | Greens | 196,702 | 1.86 | +0.46 | 0 | 0
1996 | Greens | 317,654 | 2.92 | +1.06 | 0 | 0
1998 | Australian Greens | 238,035 | 2.14 | - | 0 | 0
2001 | Australian Greens | 569,074 | 4.96 | +2.82 | 0 | 0
2004 | Australian Greens | 841,734 | 7.19 | +2.23 | 0 | 0
2007 | Australian Greens | 967,789 | 7.79 | +0.61 | 0 | 0
2010 | Australian Greens | 1,458,998 | 11.76 | +3.97 | 1 | 1

Source: Data compiled by the Parliamentary Library from published sources[73]

Table 2.2: Green parties—national results in Senate federal elections 1990–2010

Election | Party | First preference votes | % Vote | % Change from previous election | Seats won | Seats held
1990 | Greens | 201,618 | 2.03 | - | 0 | 0
| WA Greens | 76,381 | 0.77 | - | 1 | 1
1993 | Greens | 263,106 | 2.46 | +0.43 | 0 | 0
| WA Greens | 53,757 | 0.50 | -0.27 | 1 | 2
1996 | Australian Greens | 261,677 | 2.40 | - | 0 | 1
| Greens WA | 57,006 | 0.52 | +0.02 | 0 | 1
| Tasmanian Greens | 26,830 | 0.25 | - | 1 | 1
1998 | Australian Greens | 305,228 | 2.72 | +0.32 |  | 1
| Greens WA | 61,063 | 5.74 | +0.06 | 0 | 0
2001 | Australian Greens | 574,550 | 4.94 | +2.22 | 2 | 2
2004 | Australian Greens | 916,431 | 7.67 | +2.73 | 2 | 4
2007 | Australian Greens | 1,144,751 | 9.04 | +1.38 | 3 | 5
2010 | Australian Greens | 1,667,315 | 13.11 | +4.06 | 6 | 9

Source: Data compiled by the Parliamentary Library from published sources[74]

‘Transformative politics’?

Following the 2010 federal election the national Greens’ leader, Senator Bob Brown, described his party’s electoral success in terms of ‘transformative politics’, drawing comparisons with the German Greens party which came to power in Baden-Württemberg, Germany’s third-largest state, in March 2011.[75] Professor Dean Jaensch observed that the Greens had become the ‘gatekeepers of politics’[76], and Dr Norman Abjorensen predicted that the party’s increased numbers in the Senate would be ‘game-changing’.[77] The 2010 Commonwealth election was undoubtedly a significant turning point for the Australian Greens nationally, but to what extent have the Greens used their electoral success to influence the outcomes of the 43rd Parliament? The following discussion offers some insights into the role played by the Greens during the first year of the 43rd Parliament.

Labor-Greens Agreement

Shortly after the 2010 Commonwealth election, Prime Minister Julia Gillard entered into formal agreements with the Australian Greens and three Independent MPs, in order to secure their commitment to ensure supply and oppose motions of no confidence in the government. In return for the Greens’ support, the Labor minority government committed to parliamentary reform measures including increased committee activity and time for private members’ business, a three-year term of government allowing the Parliament to serve for the full term, the establishment of a Parliamentary Budget Office, and creation of a Parliamentary Integrity Commissioner. The Labor–Greens Agreement also defined the terms of the working relationship between the Greens and the ALP for the 43rd Parliament, including weekly meetings between Senator Brown and Adam Bandt each sitting week, and it outlined policy issues upon which the two parties were agreed, including forming a multi-party climate change committee and establishing a price on carbon.[78]

The 43rd Parliament clearly felt the impact of these parliamentary arrangements, with Greens and Independent MPs taking advantage of procedural reforms outlined in The Agreement for a Better Parliament negotiated between the Government, Opposition and independents on 7 September 2010. This Agreement led to an increase in time allocated under standing orders for private members’ business in the House of Representatives and Main Committee. The maximum amount of time allocated for private members’ business almost doubled from 10 hours 20 minutes in the 42nd Parliament to 19 hours 45 minutes in the first year of the 43rd Parliament.[79] The time actually used for private members’ business in the first year amounted to 170 hours and 52 minutes, more than double the amount used (77 hours and seven minutes) in the previous parliament and representing about one-fifth of the total business conducted in the House. During that period the Greens’ Adam Bandt introduced six of the 28 private members’ bills to the House of Representatives.[80]

In the Senate, the Greens’ nine senators introduced a total of 42 private senators’ bills in the first year of the 43rd Parliament (28 September 2010–28 September 2011), including five bills initiated jointly with an Independent Senator and one across party lines. This compared with the 64 bills introduced by the Greens in the previous 14 years (between 1996 and the end of the 42nd parliament in 2010.[81] Since 2002, the Greens have shown a strong inclination to vote with the ALP during Divisions in the Senate (see Table 3 below).

Table 3: Australian Greens Voting Pattern in Senate Divisions 2002–11

Year | Total No. of Divisions | With Opposition | With Government
|  | No. | % | No. | %
2002 | 106 | 47 | 44.3 | 1 | 0.9
2003 | 162 | 76 | 46.9 | 4  | 2.5
2004 | 114 | 33 | 28.9 | 1  | 0.9
2005 | 217 | 157 | 72.3 | 0 | 0
2006 | 299 | 186 | 62.2 | 1 | 0.3
2007 | 197 | 104 | 52.7 | 3 | 1.5
2008 | 151 | 21 | 14.5 | 56 | 37.0
2009 | 202 | 19 | 9.4 | 79 | 39.1
2010 | 152 | 5 | 3.4 | 68 | 44.7
2011 (to 28 September) | 154 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 98 | 63.6

Source: Data compiled by Parliamentary Library from published sources[82]

In the aftermath of the 2010 federal election, media and public attention focused on the unfamiliar circumstances of the 43rd Parliament. Australians were about to experience their first hung parliament and minority government for almost 70 years. Whilst hung parliaments are a relatively common phenomenon overseas and in the Australian states and territories, the House of Representatives was entering uncharted waters. In addition to the hung parliament in the lower house, the Greens were about to break new ground in the Senate as the balance-of-power party.[83] Observers looked to other examples of minority government and Labor-Greens alliances in order to predict what the new arrangements might mean for the 43rd Commonwealth Parliament.

In 1989, following the Tasmanian state election, Labor negotiated an Accord with five Greens independents in order to secure their support to form government. The Accord committed both parties to a set of common objectives that sought to balance environmental policies with the state’s economic development. Their alliance did not amount to a ‘coalition’ government, but the Greens achieved a number of their environmental goals including a limit on Tasmania’s export quota for woodchips and a moratorium on logging in areas designated part of the National Estate. The Greens terminated the Accord in 1990, attributing the breakdown in the alliance to ‘the betrayal of the Greens by the Labor Party over resource security legislation’.[84] Whilst breaking new policy ground, the Accord was ultimately judged to have been one of the less successful minority government agreements, the parties having achieved only about 30 per cent of the Accord agenda.[85] One commentator described this first Greens-supported minority government in Tasmania as ‘a short-lived and acrimonious experiment’, noting that the Greens ‘gained little from the arrangement, and were shunned by Labor figures’. [86]

The next Greens-supported minority government in Tasmania involved an alliance with the Liberal Party in 1996. Despite having no formal agreement, the parties managed to produce some innovative policies. However, as academic Kate Crowley has noted, ‘there are no recipes for the formation of minority government’. In this instance, the Greens were kept ‘at arm’s length’, and the relationship deteriorated when the government announced its intention to sell its share of the state’s hydroelectricity industry.[87]

By 2010, the Democrats had all but disappeared from federal politics, and Tasmanians had elected a Labor-Greens coalition government. In return for the Tasmanian Greens’ support, the Labor minority government led by David Bartlett appointed the Greens leader Nick McKim as a minister and Cassy O’Connor as Cabinet Secretary. One commentator described Australian politics as having an ‘inbuilt sensitivity’ to such power-sharing arrangements, noting how commentators portrayed the Tasmanian results as ‘dramatic, radical and disturbing’.[88] The Greens were ‘looked upon with a degree of trepidation’, although the two leaders appeared to adopt a pragmatic attitude to the alliance, and were able to ‘embrace similarities rather than to pick over bitter and long-held ideological differences’.[89]

In the Australian Capital Territory, minority government and power-sharing arrangements have become more the norm than the exception, due in part to the Hare-Clark system of Proportional Representation and multi-member electorates. Following the 2008 Territory election, the ACT Greens entered into a formal Agreement with the Labor minority government to pursue a parliamentary reform agenda and policy program. The Agreement is subject to regular review at cabinet meetings, and progress on key objectives is reported publicly.[90] Dr Norman Abjorensen has described the review process as ‘a novel exercise in transparency’, and argues that the alliance ‘has delivered the Territory not only sound and stable government but also some much needed institutional reform’. The Greens, in turn, have had the opportunity to demonstrate their credentials in government although, he warns, the alliance is likely to be sorely tested at the next Territory election as Labor attempts to reclaim seats from the Greens.[91]

Power-sharing

At the federal level, the power-sharing arrangements negotiated after the 2010 election attracted considerable scrutiny, particularly in relation to the part that the Greens would play in government. If there had been a lack of public interest in the Greens’ broader policy agenda during the 2007 Commonwealth election campaign, the results of the 2010 election ensured a heightened interest in their ideological stance and closer scrutiny of the party’s policies and political alliance with the ALP.

Perhaps the most closely-scrutinised and significant outcome of the Labor-Greens Agreement in its first year was the Government’s endorsement of a plan to introduce a ‘carbon tax’. Prior to the 2010 federal election, the Greens had advocated a gradual, long-term shift in the tax system, from work-based taxes to taxes on natural resources and pollution. They had rejected the Rudd Government’s proposed carbon pollution reduction scheme, on the basis that it locked Australia into a reduction target that the Greens did not support. On 27 September 2010, as a result of the agreement between the Prime Minister, Treasurer, and leader of the Australian Greens, the Government announced the establishment of a Multi-Party Climate Change Committee (MPCCC) to examine options for the introduction of a carbon price.[92]

In February 2011, Prime Minister Gillard announced her Government’s decision to legislate for the introduction of a fixed price on carbon pollution from 1 July 2012, moving to a full emissions trading scheme in three to five years. In the lead-up to the 2010 federal election, the ALP had supported a policy to address carbon emissions, although the Prime Minister had stated that there would be no carbon tax under a government she led.[93] The Government’s endorsement of a carbon pricing plan drew critical commentary about the degree of influence exercised by the Greens over the Labor minority government.[94] At the press conference to announce the plan, the Prime Minister defended the move by saying that she had made ‘some changes in order to work with the parliament that Australians voted for’.[95] The Greens attributed the Government’s endorsement of Greens’ policy to the new power-sharing arrangements of minority government. According to the party’s deputy leader, Christine Milne, ‘[m]ajority governments would not have delivered this outcome’.[96] On 10 July 2011, after months of political debate and public speculation about the controversial proposal, the MPCCC released its Clean Energy Agreement. The Agreement underpinned a package of 18 Bills to implement a carbon pricing mechanism to commence on 1 July 2012. The Clean Energy Bill 2011 and related Bills were introduced to the House of Representatives on 13 September and passed on 12 October 2011, and it was anticipated that, with the Greens’ support, the legislation would be passed in the Senate.[97]

The controversy surrounding the Government’s support for a carbon pricing plan seemed to set the tone for first year of the 43rd Parliament, whilst the nature of the relationship between Labor and the Greens came in for particular scrutiny and analysis. Some media commentators were critical of the Greens for applying pressure on the Labor minority government to achieve their own political agenda. The Labor government was criticised for ‘marching to the Greens’ tune’ and ‘being driven by the Greens’.[98] The Australian newspaper’s Paul Kelly reflected that the green agenda had ‘corrupted Labor values’, and some observers suggested that the Prime Minister’s survival as party leader depended upon her ability to distance her government from the Greens.[99]

Such criticism was not new. In 2004, the Australian Democrats’ Andrew Bartlett claimed that the Greens had become Labor’s ‘coalition partner’, suggesting that the Democrats remained the only truly independent party in the Senate.[100] Academic, Narelle Miragliotta, noted in 2006 that ‘[p]olitical commentators are fond of using adjectives such as “feral”, “extremists”, “idealistic”, “watermelon party” and “radical left wing party” to describe the party’.[101] In 2007, Liberal Senator Nick Minchin warned that the Senate would be ‘mired in chaos’ if the Greens were to gain the balance of power in that chamber, predicting that Labor would be obliged to implement the ‘dangerous policy agenda’ of this ‘radical left-wing party’ including abolishing the defence force, introducing wealth and inheritance taxes, and abolishing the private health insurance rebate.[102] ‘If people think they are just koala cuddlers, they are being seriously misled.’[103] Family First Senator, Steve Fielding, labelled the Greens ‘anti-family and anti-small business’, and warned that they sought to open ‘drug shooting galleries’, give free heroin to addicts and remove all criminal sanctions for drug users. Former Democrats senator Andrew Murray described the Greens’ agenda as ‘a determination to change society’.[104] Federal Liberal MP Kevin Andrews concluded his analysis of the Greens’ political agenda by cautioning that Australia’s economic system and ‘the heart and soul of Western civilisation’ are at stake[105], whilst former Prime Minister John Howard challenged the perception that the Greens were gaining strength, suggesting that their electoral support may have peaked and describing them as the ‘real extremists in Australian politics’.[106]

Since the Labor-Greens Agreement, both parties have sought to differentiate themselves by drawing attention to key differences in their core values and policies. In two separate speeches celebrating former Labor leaders in March 2011, for example, Prime Minister Gillard stated that the Greens ‘have no tradition of striking the balance required to deliver major reform’, and that they did not share the Labor Party’s ‘values of everyday Australians’.[107] The Greens, in turn, have distanced themselves from some of Labor’s policies, most notably in relation to asylum-seekers [108], and areas of policy difference will continue to arise.[109]

Conclusion

Some political analysts have predicted that power-sharing arrangements between the major and smaller parties will become more common in Australian politics. A minority government’s relationship with those who hold the balance of power is always likely to arouse tensions and controversy, particularly where the parties involved hold differing values, policy approaches or priorities. The experiences of the Australian Greens in the Commonwealth, Tasmanian and ACT parliaments serve to illustrate some of the tensions inherent in these arrangements, and how the parties involved have sought to balance their policy objectives with their responsibilities in government. The Greens’ evolving relationship with the ALP recalls Professor John Warhurst’s description of the relationship as ‘a combustible mix’.[110] As Robert Manne observed in The Monthly shortly after the 2010 election, ‘... Labor is simultaneously both a fierce opponent of the Greens in the battle for the left-leaning voters and a self-interested political friend, ultimately reliant for its survival on its opponent’s willingness to favour it with the overwhelming number of its preferences.’[111]

In his 2008 analysis of the Australian Greens, Scott Bennett speculated as to whether the party could ever become a major player in mainstream politics, particularly given the lingering perception amongst voters that its primary focus is on environmental matters.[112] Since then, the Greens have had some notable electoral and political achievements in the federal parliamentary arena. A combination of ideology and pragmatism has enabled them to challenge the ‘cosy duopoly’ of the traditionally dominant political parties.[113] The Greens are still a minor party in the federal parliament, although they have assumed a greater level of influence in both the ‘House of Government’, as well as in the Senate, in return for supporting the minority Labor Government. They have seen some key policy initiatives supported by the Government and, in association with independents, they have been instrumental in shaping parliamentary reforms designed to enhance the role of local MPs in the House of Representatives.[114]

Prior to the 2010 election, the Australian Democrats were the longest surviving and most successful minor party in federal politics, having held the balance of power in the Senate either solely or with other minor parties or independents for a period of 23 years, from July 1981 to 2004.[115] Whether the Australian Greens will surpass this achievement remains to be seen, but it is clear that the party’s leaders are not content for it to remain a minority party, nor to simply replicate the Australian Democrat’s role as ‘watchdog’ for the Senate. As Senator Brown commented during the 2010 election campaign:

We are giving people an alternative. We're not a faction. We're not a lobby group. We're not a preference machine for the big parties. We're here to replace them because they're failing the Australian people.[116]

As parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens, Bob Brown is widely credited as a driving force for the party’s electoral achievements. Once described as the ‘gentle revolutionary’[117], Brown has been a strong influence on the party throughout the period of its political ascendancy. For many Australians, he has become the voice and face of the party. Nevertheless, he will turn 70 in 2014, and observers have begun to speculate about the impact of a leadership change on the party’s fortunes and potential leadership tensions within the party.[118]

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing the Australian Greens, according to former Liberal Party member turned Greens supporter, Guy Pearse, lies in balancing tensions within the party ‘between those who see economic growth as the enemy and those who believe in sustainable economic growth’. ‘The real question’, he concludes, ‘is whether the Greens can hold together the increasingly broad church into which they are attracting grassroots support’.[119] For a minor party aspiring to govern in its own right, that question goes to the heart of this ‘game-changing’ period in Australian parliamentary democracy.

The relationship between the ALP and the Greens has been a critical element in shaping the course of the 43rd Commonwealth Parliament in its first year, and will continue to have a significant impact on the Parliament during the remainder of its life. It will inevitably continue to be a focus for analysis and comment in the future, as observers seek to understand the nature and impact of the Australian Greens as a third force in Australian politics.

Appendix 1: Timeline of the Australian Greens

Year | Australia | International
1972 | United Tasmania Group (UTG) formed with Bob Brown and Milo Dunphy as co-directors, largely to campaign against damming of Lake Pedder. Regarded as the world's first ‘green’ political party | New Zealand/Aotearoa: Values Party formed
1973 |  | United Kingdom: Values Party formed (later Ecology Party then Green Party)
1974 | The UTG in Tasmania, Conservation Party in Queensland and Victorian Environment Group contest Senate seats — the first ‘green’ candidates for federal office in Australia |
1976 | The Tasmanian Wilderness Society set up at a meeting at Bob Brown's home in Tasmania |
1979 |  | Switzerland: Daniel Brelaz is the first Green elected to a national parliament
1980 | First green activist elected in Australia: Norm Sanders, representing the Australian Democrats, to the Tasmanian House of Assembly |
1982 | In Tasmanian state election, Bob Brown stands unsuccessfully as independent candidate for electorate of Denison; he is elected after a count back of votes following Democrat Norm Sanders’ decision to stand down to contest Senate seat in federal election |
1983 | The Sydney Greens registers as the first Australian ‘green’ party | West Germany: 28 members of German Green Party elected to West German parliament
1984 | Nuclear Disarmament Party formed to contest Senate seats in NSW, Victoria and WA, becoming Australia’s first national green party. Jo Vallentine (WA) elected to federal Senate |
1985 | Jo Vallentine resigns from NDP to become Independent WA Senator for Nuclear Disarmament; Queensland Greens formed |
1986 | Gerry Bates elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly for Franklin as an Independent Green; Bob Brown is re-elected for Denison |
1987 | First Senate candidates stand for election on environmental platform |

1989

South Australian Greens formed; in Tasmanian Parliament Christine Milne, Di Hollister and Lance Armstrong join Bob Brown and Gerry Bates to form ‘The Green Independents’, subsequently becoming the Tasmanian Greens. They hold the balance of power in the Tasmanian Labor minority government until 1992 and negotiate a Greens–Labor Accord

1990 | Greens WA formed following merger of the WA Green Party and Green Earth alliance; Jo Vallentine re-elected to the Senate as Australia’s first Greens Senator |
1992 | Australian Greens Party formed as a confederacy of all state parties. WA Greens Senator Jo Vallentine retires from the Senate, replaced by Christabel Chamarette |
1993 | Christabel Chamarette and Dee Margetts elected to Senate for WA Greens, together with Democrats and independents, hold balance of power in Senate; Victorian Greens (formed in 1992) join federation of Australian Greens |
1996 | Bob Brown (TAS) elected to Senate; South Australian Greens formed and subsequently join federation of Australian Greens |
1998 | Dee Margetts loses her seat while Bob Brown re-elected to Senate | Germany: Greens form coalition government with the Social Democratic Party (until 2005)
2001 | Kerry Nettle (NSW) elected and Bob Brown re-elected to Senate | First international congress of Green political parties from more than 70 countries held in Canberra. Global Greens Charter adopted enabling the formation of the Global Greens Coordination and Global Greens Network
2002 | In a by-election, Michael Organ (NSW) becomes the first Greens member of the House of Representatives |
2003 | Northern Territory Greens formed and subsequently join federation of Australian Greens; Greens WA affiliate with Australian Greens |
2004 | Rachel Siewert (WA) elected to Senate. Christine Milne (TAS) elected to Senate |
2007 | Sarah Hanson-Young (SA) and Scott Ludlam (WA) elected to Senate. Bob Brown (TAS) re-elected to Senate and Australian Greens’ federal representation increased to five, bringing full political party status |

2010

Adam Bandt wins seat of Melbourne for the Australian Greens, becoming the first member of a minor party to win a House of Representatives seat in a general federal election. The Greens win an additional four seats in the Senate giving them the balance of power in the Senate with nine Senators representing every Australian state: Bob Brown and Christine Milne for Tasmania, Larissa Waters for Queensland, Penny Wright and Sarah Hanson-Young for South Australia, Richard Di Natale for Victoria, Lee Rhiannon for New South Wales, and Scott Ludlam and Rachel Siewert for Western Australia

2011 |  | Canadian Greens leader Elizabeth May wins a seat in the House of Commons The German Greens and SPD win the majority of seats in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and the Greens become the senior partner in a coalition national government with leader Winfried Kretschmann as Governor

Source: Compiled by Parliamentary Library from external sources.[120]

Appendix 2: Greens party results in state and territory elections, 1990–2011

State/Territory | House | Election year | No of candidates | % first preference votes | Seats won | Seats held
New South Wales | Legislative Assembly[121] | 1991 | 8 | 0.54 | - | -
|  | 1995 | 35 | 2.57 | - | -
|  | 1999 | 81 | 3.88 | - | -
|  | 2003 | 93 | 8.25 | - | -
|  | 2007 |  | 8.95 | - | -
|  | 2011 | 93 | 10.28 | 1 | 1
| Legislative Council[122] | 1991 | 2 | 3.32 | - | -
|  | 1995 | 3 | 3.75 | 1 | 1
|  | 1999 | 9 | 2.91 | 1 | 2
|  | 2003 | 21 | 8.6 | 2 | 3
|  | 2007 | 93 | 9.12 | 3 | 4
|  | 2011 | 21 | 11.12 | 3 | 5
Victoria | Legislative Assembly[123] | 1992 | 1 | 0.07 | - | -
|  | 1996 | - | - | - | -
|  | 1999 | 22 | 1.15 | - | -
|  | 2002 | 84 | 9.73 | - | -
|  | 2006 | 88 | 10.04 | - | -
|  | 2010 | 88 | 11.21 | - | -
| Legislative Council[124] | 1992 | - | - | - | -
|  | 1996 | - | - | - | -
|  | 1999 | 4 | 2.23 | - | -
|  | 2002 | 22 | 10.87 | - | -
|  | 2006 | 36 | 10.58 | 3 | 3
|  | 2010 | 40 | 12.01 | 3 | 3
South Australia | Legislative Assembly[125] | 1993 | 3 | 0.28 | - | -
|  | 1997 | 2 | 0.21 | - | -
|  | 2002 | 22 | 2.4 | - | -
|  | 2006 | 47 | 6.5 | - | -
|  | 2010 | 47 | 8.1 | - | -
| Legislative Council[126] | 1993 Green Party SA Green Alliance | 2 2 | 1.3 0.44 | - - | - -
|  | 1997 | 2 | 1.72 | - | -
|  | 2002 | 4 | 2.76 | - | -
|  | 2006 | 4 | 4.28 | 1 | 1
|  | 2010 | 3 | 6.6 | 1 | 1
Tasmania | House of Assembly[127] | 1992 | 35 | 13.23 | 5 | 5
|  | 1996 | 35 | 11.14 | 4 | 4
|  | 1998 | 25 | 10.18 | 1 | 1
|  | 2002 | 25 | 18.13 | 4 | 4
|  | 2006 | 25 | 16.63 | 4 | 4
|  | 2010 | 25 | 21.61 | 5 | 5
Western Australia | Legislative Assembly[128] | 1996 | 28 | 4.73 | - | -
|  | 2001 | 51 | 7.27 | - | -
|  | 2005 | 57 | 7.57 | - | -
|  | 2008 | 59 | 11.92 | - | -
| Legislative Council[129] | 1996 |  | 5.55 | 2 | 3
|  | 2001 |  | 8.00 | 2 | 5
|  | 2005 |  | 7.52 | 2 | 2
|  | 2008 |  | 11.08 |  | 4
Queensland | Legislative Assembly[130] | 1989 | 7 | 0.38 | - | -
|  | 1992 | 8 | 0.68 | - | -
|  | 1995 | 28 | 2.87 | - | -
|  | 1998 | 46 | 2.36 | - | -
|  | 2001 | 31 | 2.51 | - | -
|  | 2004 | 72 | 6.76 | - | -
|  | 2006 | 75 | 7.99 | - | -
|  | 2009 | 89 | 8.37 | - | -
Australian Capital Territory | Legislative Assembly[131] | 1995 | 9 | 9.06 | 2 | 2
|  | 1998 | 15 | 9.1 | 1 | 1
|  | 2001 | 8 | 9.1 | 1 | 1
|  | 2004 | 7 | 9.3 | 1 | 1
|  | 2008 | 7 | 15.64 | 4 | 4
Northern Territory | Legislative Assembly[132] | 2001 | - | - | - | -
|  | 2005 | 11 | 4.17 | - | -
|  | 2008 | 6 | 4.3 | - | -

Appendix 3: Private members’ and senators’ bills

Senate—1996–22 September 2011

Title | Date | Introduced by Senator
Native Forest Protection Bill 1996 | 11/9/96 | Brown
Sun Fund Bill 1997 | 25/6/97 | Brown
Constitution Alteration (Right to Stand for Parliament—Qualification of Members and Candidates) Bill 1998 | 24/6/98 | Brown
Constitution Alteration (Right to Stand for Parliament—Qualification of Members and Candidates) Bill 1998 (No. 2) | 24/11/98 | Brown
Convention on Climate Change (Implementation) Bill 1999 | 2/9/99 | Brown
Customs Amendment (Anti-radioactive Waste Storage Dump) Bill 1999 | 20/10/99 | Brown
Human Rights (Mandatory Sentencing of Juvenile Offenders) Bill 1999 | 30/6/99 | Brown; Bolkus; Greig
Human Rights (Mandatory Sentencing for Property Offences) Bill 2000 | 6/9/00 | Brown
Convention on Climate Change (Implementation) Bill 1999 [No. 2] | Rest NP 12/11/02 | Brown
Customs Amendment (Anti-Radioactive Waste Storage Dump) Bill 1999 [2002] | 12/11/02 | Brown
Human Rights (Mandatory Sentencing for Property Offences) Bill 2000 [2002] | Rest NP 12/11/02 | B Brown
Kyoto Protocol (Ratification) Bill 2002 | 19/9/02 | B Brown
Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (Forest Practices) Bill 2002 | 20/6/02 | B Brown
Plastic Bag Levy (Assessment and Collection) Bill 2002 [No. 2] | 21/10/02 | B Brown
Plastic Bag (Minimisation of Usage) Education Fund Bill 2002 [No. 2] | 21/10/02 | B Brown
Kyoto Protocol Ratification Bill 2003 [No. 2] | 30/10/03 | Lundy; B Brown
Truth in Food Labelling Bill 2003 | 13/10/03 | B Brown
Criminal Code Amendment (Workplace Death and Serious Injury) Bill 2004 | 4/8/04 | Nettle
Invasion of Iraq Royal Commission (Restoring Public Trust in Government) Bill 2004 [No. 2] | 3/3/04 | B Brown
Constitution Alteration (Right to Stand for Parliament—Qualification of Members and Candidates) Bill 1998 (No. 2) [2004] | Rest NP 1/12/04 | B Brown
Criminal Code Amendment (Workplace Death and Serious Injury) Bill 2004 | Rest NP 30/11/04 | Nettle
Senate Voters’ Choice (Preference Allocation) Bill 2004 | 9/12/04 | B Brown
Migration Amendment (Act of Compassion) Bill 2005 | 16/6/05 | Nettle
Migration Amendment (Mandatory Detention) Bill 2005 | 16/6/05 | Nettle
Truth in Food Labelling Bill 2003 [2005] | Rest NP 15/9/05 | B Brown
Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Amendment (Disallowance Power of the Commonwealth) Bill 2006 | 19/6/06 | B Brown
Climate Change Action Bill 2006 | 30/11/06 | Milne
Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill 2006 | 5/12/06 | Allison; Bartlett; Bishop; B Brown
Pregnancy Counselling (Truth in Advertising) Bill 2006 | 7/12/06 | Stott Despoja; Troeth; Nettle; C Brown
Removal of Recognition of US Military Commissions (David Hicks) Bill 2006 | 7/12/06 | Nettle; B Brown
Australian Territories Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill 2007 | 8/2/07 | B Brown
Food Safety (Trans Fats) Bill 2007 | 26/3/07 | Nettle
Lobbying and Ministerial Accountability Bill 2007 | 14/6/07 | B Brown
Marriage (Relationships Equality) Amendment Bill 2007 | 1/3/07 | Nettle
Migration (Climate Refugees) Amendment Bill 2007 | 21/6/07 | Nettle
Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill 2006 [2008] | Rest 14/02/08 | Allison; Bartlett; Bishop; B Brown
Marriage (Relationships Equality) Amendment Bill 2008 | 14/02/08 | Nettle
Rights of the Terminally Ill (Euthanasia Laws Repeal) Bill 2008 | 14/02/08 | B Brown
Plastic Bag Levy (Assessment and Collection) Bill 2002 [2008] | Rest 14/05/08 | B Brown
Commonwealth Electoral (Above-the-Line Voting) Amendment Bill 2008 | 14/05/08 | Brown
Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment (Feed-in-Tariff) Bill 2008 | 15/5/08 | Milne
Pregnancy Counselling (Truth in Advertising) Bill 2006 [2008] | Rest 19/06/08 | Stott Despoja, Troeth, Nettle and C Brown
Building and Construction Industry (Restoring Workplace Rights) Bill 2008 | 28/08/08 | Siewert
Protecting Children from Junk Food Advertising (Broadcasting Amendment) Bill 2008 | 4/09/08 | B Brown
Restoring Territory Rights (Voluntary Euthanasia Legislation) Bill 2008 | 17/09/08 | B Brown
Stolen Generations Reparations Tribunal Bill 2008 | 24/09/08 | Siewert
Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management (Repeal and Consequential Amendment) Bill 2008 | 25/09/08 | Ludlam
Renewable Energy Amendment (Feed-in-Tariff for Electricity) Bill 2008 | 11/11/08 | Milne
Renewable Energy Amendment (Increased Mandatory Renewable Energy Target) Bill 2008 | 27/11/08 | Milne
Food Safety (Trans Fats) Bill 2009 | 16/03/09 | Siewert
Fair Work Amendment (Paid Parental Leave) Bill 2009 | 13/05/09 | Hanson-Young
Environment Protection (Beverage Container Deposit and Recovery Scheme) Bill 2009 | 14/05/09 | Ludlam
Anti-Terrorism Laws Reform Bill 2009 | 23/06/09 | Ludlam
Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2009 | 24/06/09 | Hanson-Young
Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling Laws) Bill 2009 | 20/08/09 | Xenophon; B Brown;  Joyce
Special Broadcasting Service Amendment (Prohibition of Disruptive Advertising) Bill 2009 | 7/09/09 | Ludlam
Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Approval of Overseas Service) Bill 2008 [No. 2] | 17/09/08 | Ludlam
Safe Climate (Energy Efficient Non-Residential Buildings Scheme) Bill 2009 | 17/09/09 | Milne
Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Restoration of Racial Discrimination Act) Bill 2009 | 29/10/09 | Siewert
Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling—Palm Oil) Bill 2009 | 23/11/09 | Xenophon; B Brown;  Joyce
Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Amendment (Disallowance and Amendment Power of the Commonwealth) Bill 2009 | 26/11/09 | B Brown
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Prohibition of Support for Whaling) Bill 2010        | 4/02/10 | Siewert; Abetz
Renewable Energy—Electricity (Water Heaters and Phantom Certificates) Bill 2010    | 24/2/10 | Milne
Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Scholarship Payments) Bill 2010 | 24/2/10 | Hanson-Young
43rd Parliament—29/9/10–28/9/11 |  |
Anti-Terrorism Laws Reform Bill 2010 | 29/9/10 | Ludlam
Banking Amendment (Controls on Variable Interest Rate Changes) Bill 2010 | 28/11/10 | B Brown
Banking Amendment (Delivering Essential Financial Services) Bill 2010 (No. 2) | 30/9/10 | B Brown
Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Anti-Siphoning) Bill 2010 S | 23/11/10 | B Brown
Building and Construction Industry (Restoring Workplace Rights) Bill 2010S | 29/9/10 | Siewert
Commonwealth Commissioner for Children and Young People 2010S | 29/9/10 | Hanson- Young
Commonwealth Electoral (Above-the-Line Voting) Amendment 2010S | 30/9/10 | B Brown
Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Tobacco Industry Donations) Bill 2011 | 15/6/11 | B Brown
Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management (Repeal and Consequential Amendment) 2010S | 29/9/10 | Ludlam
Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Approval of Overseas Service) 2010S | 30/9/10 | Ludlam
Environment Protection (Beverage Container Deposit and Recovery Scheme) 2010S | 30/9/10 | Ludlam
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Prohibition of Support for Whaling) 2010S | 29/9/10 | Siewert; B Brown
Fair Work Amendment (Paid Parental Leave) 2010S | 30/9/10 | Hanson-Young
Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Restoration of Racial Discrimination Act) 2010S | 29/9/10 | Siewert
Food Safety (Trans Fats) Bill 2010 | 30/9/10 | Siewert
Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling—Genetically Modified Material) Bill 2010 | 16/11/10 | Xenophon; Siewert
Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling—Palm Oil) 2010S | 30/9/10 | Xenophon; B Brown
Foreign Acquisitions Amendment (Agricultural Land) Bill 2010 | 24/11/10 | Xenophon; Milne
Landholders’ Right to Refuse (Coal Seam Gas) Bill 2011 | 24/8/11 | Waters
Live Animal Export (Slaughter) Prohibition Bill 2011 [No. 2] | 15/6/11 | Siewert
Marriage Equality Amendment 2010S | 29/9/10 | Hanson-Young
Migration Amendment (Declared Countries) Bill (No. 2) 2011 | 5/7/11 | Hanson-Young
Migration Amendment (Declared Countries) Bill 2011 | 16/6/11 | Hanson-Young
Migration Amendment (Detention of Minors) 2010 | 28/10/10 | Hanson-Young
Migration Amendment (Detention Reform and Procedural Fairness) Bill 2010 | 18/11/10 | Hanson-Young
National Integrity Commissioner 2010 | 30/9/10 | B Brown
Native Title Amendment (Reform) Bill 2011 | 21/3/11 | Siewert
Ombudsman Amendment (Education Ombudsman) 2010S | 29/9/10 | Hanson-Young
Patent Amendment (Human Genes and Biological Materials) Bill 2010 [No. 2] | 24/11/10 | Coonan; Heffernan; Siewert; Xenophon
Plastic Bag Levy (Assessment and Collection) Bill 2010 | 22/11/10 | B Brown
Plebiscite for an Australian Republic 2010S | 30/9/10 | B Brown
Preventing the Misuse of Government Advertising 2010S | 29/9/10 | B Brown
Protecting Children from Junk Food Advertising (Broadcasting Amendment) 2010S | 30/9/10 | B Brown
Qantas Sale Amendment (Still Call Australia Home) Bill 2011 | 25/8/11 | Xenophon; B Brown
Renewable Energy Amendment (Feed-in-Tariff for Electricity) 2010S | 29/9/10 | Milne
Restoring Territory Rights (Voluntary Euthanasia Legislation) 2010S | 29/9/10 | B Brown
Safe Climate (Energy Efficient Non-Residential Buildings Scheme) 2010S | 29/9/10 | Milne
Special Broadcasting Service Amendment (Prohibition of Disruptive Advertising) 2010S | 30/9/10 | Ludlam
Stolen Generations Reparations Tribunal 2010S | 30/9/10 | Siewert
Telecommunications Amendment (Mobile Phone Towers) Bill 2011 | 14/9/11 | B Brown
Territories Self-Government Legislation Amendment (Disallowance and Amendment of Laws) Bill 2011 | 29/9/10 | B Brown
Water (Crisis Powers and Floodwater Diversion) 2010S | 30/9/10 | Xenophon; Hanson-Young

House of Representatives—43rd Parliament (29 September 2010–22 September 2011)

Title | Date | Introduced by Member
Banking Amendment (Delivering Essential Financial Services) Bill 2010 | 15/11/10 | Bandt
Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Approval of Overseas Service) Bill 2010 | 15/11/10 | Bandt
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Abolition of Alpine Grazing) Bill 2011 | 28/2/11 | Bandt
Live Animal Export (Slaughter) Prohibition Bill 2011 | 20/6/11 | Bandt
Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Fair Protection for Firefighters) Bill 2011 | 4/7/11 | Bandt; Broadbent; Vamvakinou
Banking and Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Mobility and Flexibility) Bill 2011 | 22/8/11 | Bandt

Source: Source: Compiled by Janet Wilson, Parliamentary Library and Parliament of Australia Bills Lists, viewed 29 September 2011, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fbillslst%2Fbillslst_c99ccdfe-6ebb-42b7-b8bc-55e41b42db67%22; http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fbillslst%2Fbillslst_833eb936-6e19-4f07-8bd1-333b9587e64c%22

Appendix 4: Greens senators and members, 1992–2011

Senate

Name | State | Party | Period of service
Brown, Robert (Bob) James | Tas. | GRN | 1.7.1996–
Chamarette, Christabel Marguerite Alain | WA | GWA | 12.3.1992–30.6.1996 defeated
Di Natale, Richard | Vic. | GRN | 1.7.2011–
Dunn, Patricia Irene (Irina) | NSW | NDP; IND from Aug. 1988 | 21.7.1988–30.6.1990 defeated
Hanson-Young, Sarah Coral | SA | GRN | 1.7.2008–
Ludlam, Scott | WA | GRN | 1.7.2008–
Margetts, Diane (Dee) Elizabeth | WA | GWA | 1.7.1993–30.6.1999 defeated
Milne, Christine Anne | Tas. | GRN | 1.7.2005–
Nettle, Kerry Michelle | NSW | GRN | 1.7.2002-30.6.2008 defeated
Rhiannon, Lee | NSW | GRN | 1.7.2011–
Siewert, Rachel Mary | WA | GRN | 1.7.2005–
Vallentine, Josephine | WA | NDP; IND from May 1985; GWA from July 1990 | 1.7.1985–31.1.1992 resigned
Waters, Larissa Joy | Qld | GRN | 1.7.2011–
Wood, William Robert | NSW | NDP | 11.7.1987–12.5.1988
Wright, Penelope (Penny) Lesley | SA | GRN | 1.7.2011–

House of Representatives

Name | Division | State | Date of election | Date ceased to be a Member
Bandt, Adam Paul | Melbourne | Vic. | 21.8.2010 |
Organ, Michael Keith | Cunningham | NSW | 19.10.2002* | Defeated 9.10.2004

* By-election.
Source: Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia[133]

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ISSN 1834-9854

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[17].              The Charter and National Constitution of the Australian Greens, op. cit.

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[26].              Australian Greens policies, Consolidated list issued March 2007, viewed 12 August 2011, http://australianpolitics.com/parties/greens/2007_consolidated-policies.pdf; L Waters, ‘Minor parties in a green election—a Green perspective’, Social Alternatives, vol. 27, no. 2, 2008, p. 41–2.

[27].              W Bowe, ‘Green Members in Green Chambers: The role of the Australian Greens in government formation’, Australasian Parliamentary Review, Autumn 2010, vol. 25, no. 1, p. 145.

[28].              ABC elections website, Australia votes 2010, viewed 12 August 2011, http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2010/policies/

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[30].              Australian Greens website, viewed 12 September 2011, http://greens.org.au/content/policy-initiatives-2010; D Jaensch, ‘Parliament is about to get Green’, The Advertiser, 30 June 2011, viewed 9 August 2011, http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/jaensch-parliament-is-about-to-get-green/story-fn6br25t-1226084393398

[31].              A McIntyre, ed, The Greens: Policies, reality and consequences, Connor Court Publishing, Ballan, Victoria, 2011, p. 1.

[32].              P Sheehan, ‘Green by name, flaky by nature’, Sydney Morning Herald, 29 November 2010, viewed 18 August 2011, http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/green-by-name-flaky-by-nature-20101128-18cab.html

[33].              ‘The Greens and the changing social bases of Australian political parties’, Department of Sociology, Macquarie University website, viewed 9 August 2011, http://www.soc.mq.edu.au/research/

[34].              For a more detailed history of the emergence of the Australian Greens, see Bennett, The rise of the Australian Greens, op. cit., pp. 1–7.

[35].              T Bonyhady, The Colonial Earth, Melbourne University Press, Carlton South, 2000, p. 4.

[36].              B Tranter, ‘Environmentalism in Australia: Elites and the public’, Journal of Sociology, vol. 35, no. 3, November 1999, pp. 331–49.

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[38].              J Barry, Rethinking Green politics: nature, virtue and progress, Safe Publications, London, 1999, p. 251.

[39].              D Wall, The no-nonsense guide to Green politics, New Internationalist Publications, Oxford, 2010, pp. 14–16; Bennett, The rise of the Australian Greens, op. cit.

[40].              PA Christoff, pers. comm., 14 December 2011.

[41].              Wall, The no-nonsense guide, op. cit., p. 12.

[42].              World elections website, viewed 6 July 2011, http://welections.wordpress.com/2011/05/29/bremen-germany-2007/; ‘Germany Greens hail state victory in vote overshadowed by Fukushima’, The Guardian, viewed 6 July 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/27/german-green-victory-fukushima

[43].              ‘Germany votes to end nuclear power by 2022’, The Guardian, viewed 6 July 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/30/germany-end-nuclear-power-2022

[44].              European Green Party website, viewed 3 August 2011, http://europeangreens.eu/menu/learn-about-egp/history/

[45].              Green Party United Kingdom website viewed 7 July 2011, http://www.greenparty.org.uk/elections/general_results_2010.html; Elections Canada, 2011 general election website, viewed 7 July 2011, http://enr.elections.ca/National_e.aspx; The Greens: Green Party USA website, viewed 7 July 2011, http://www.greenparty.org/index.php; Electoral Council of Australia, ‘Proportional Representation in Australia’, viewed 7 July 2011, http://www.eca.gov.au/systems/proportional/proportion_rep.htm

[46].              Global Greens website, viewed 7 July 2011, http://www.globalgreens.org/

[47].              For example, see G Hawker, ‘Growing the Greens’, Australian Quarterly, vol. 81, no. 3, May–June 2009, p. 11.

[48].              Bennett, The rise of the Australian Greens, op. cit., p. 3.

[49].              R Manne, ‘The rise of the Greens’, The Monthly, October 2010, pp. 8–13.

[50].              Senator Vallentine was listed in Senate records as being an Independent during her term of office from 1987 to 1990. See Bennett, The rise of the Australian Greens, op. cit. for a more detailed analysis prior to 2008.

[51].               See Appendix 1 for an overview of the Australian Greens in the states and territories.

[52].              See Appendix 2 for a summary of votes and seats won by Greens’ candidates in state and territory elections between 1990 and 2011.

[53].              The Greens Tasmania website, viewed 12 September 2011, http://www.tas.greens.org.au/history and http://www.tas.greens.org.au/story/greens-mark-12-month-anniversary-ministries

[54].              S Bennett, Tasmanian election 2010, Background note, 9 June 2010, 2009–10, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2010, p. 1, viewed 12 September 2011, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22library%2Fprspub%2F84ZW6%22;  Bowe, ‘Green Members in Green Chambers, op. cit., p. 145; ACT Greens website, viewed 7 July 2011, http://act.greens.org.au/content/meet-act-greens

[55].              A Green, Western Australian state election: analysis of results, Western Australian Parliamentary Library, Election papers Series no. 1/2009, March 2009, p. 33, viewed 12 September 2011, http://www.abc.net.au/elections/archive/wa/WA2008_Results.pdf; A Green, 2008 Northern Territory election, 9 August 2008, p. 3, viewed 12 September 2011, http://www.abc.net.au/elections/archive/nt/NT2008_Results.pdf

[56].              M Rodrigues, Queensland election 2009, Research paper, no. 34, 2008–09, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2 June 2009, p. 11, viewed 12 September 2011, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22library%2Fprspub%2FSUQT6%22

[57].              L Megarrity, The South Australian election 2010, Background note, 2009–10, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 8 June 2010, p. 16, viewed 12 September 2011, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22library%2Fprspub%2FHKYW6%22

[58].              B Holmes, 2011 NSW Election, Background note 2010-11, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, updated 23 June 2011, pp. 13–15,  viewed 12 September 2011, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/805595/upload_binary/805595.pdf;fileType%3Dapplication%2Fpdf; S Nicholls, ‘Greens back away from major party preferences’, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 February 2011, viewed 12 September 2011, http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/greens-back-away-from-major-party-preferences-20110211-1aqju.html

[59].              P Christoff, ‘Australian Greens’, in B Galligan and W Roberts, ed, The Oxford companion to Australian politics, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, 2007, p. 240; Australian Electoral Commission, Virtual Tally Room, First preferences by group, viewed 12 September 2011, http://results.aec.gov.au/13745/Website/SenateStateFirstPrefsByGroup-13745-NAT.htm

[60].               Australian Electoral Commission, Election 2004, Virtual Tally Room, viewed 16 January 2012, http://results.aec.gov.au/12246/results/HouseDivisionFirstPrefs-12246-105.htm

[61].              He subsequently ran as an Independent candidate in the 2010 Tasmanian state election, and succeeded in winning the House of Representatives seat of Denison as an Independent in the 2010 federal election. See ‘Distributing preferences in Denison’, Antony Green’s Election Blog, ABC Elections, viewed 16 January 2012, http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2010/08/distributing-preferences-in-denison.html

[62].              S Barber, C Lawley, S Bennett and G Newman, Federal election results 1901–2007, Research Paper no. 17, 2008–09, 5 December 2008, viewed 12 September 2011, http://www.aph.gov.au/Library/pubs/rp/2008-09/09rp17.pdf; updated from AEC Virtual Tally Room Election 2010, viewed 12 September 2011, http://results.aec.gov.au/15508/Website/HouseStateFirstPrefsByParty-15508-NAT.htm

[63].              S Barber, C Lawley, S Bennett and G Newman, Federal election results 1901–2007, Research Paper no. 17, 2008–09, 5 December 2008, viewed 12 September 2011, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22library%2Fprspub%2FB7CS6%22; updated from AEC Virtual Tally Room Election 2010, viewed 12 September 2011, http://results.aec.gov.au/15508/Website/SenateStateFirstPrefsByGroup-15508-NAT.htm

[64].              The Green Guide, ABC Elections website, http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2010/guide/pastelections.htm; Australian Politics and Elections Database, The University of Western Australia, http://elections.uwa.edu.au/listelections.lasso.

[65].              The Australian Electoral Commission defines a parliamentary party as a political party with at least one member in the Commonwealth Parliament. See AEC, Party registration guide, Version 1, April 2010, viewed 24 November 2011, http://www.aec.gov.au/Parties_and_Representatives/party_registration/files/party-registration-guide-april2010-v1.pdf

[66].              Andrew Wilkie was nominated by the Greens as a Tasmanian candidate for the Senate in 2007. He succeeded in winning a seat as an Independent in the House of Representatives in 2010. The Senate has seventy-six senators—twelve for each state and two each for the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. Senators are elected by a system of proportional representation for a period of six years. A system of rotation, however, ensures that half the Senate retires every three years.

[67].              Bennett, The rise of the Australian Greens, op. cit. In House of Representatives elections a candidate is elected if they receive more than 50 per cent plus one (an absolute majority) of the formal first preference votes. If no candidate has an absolute majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is excluded and the votes transferred to others according to second preferences indicated on the ballot papers. This process is repeated until one candidate has more than half the total votes cast. Such preferences flowing from less popular candidates generally determine the outcome of the election.

[68].              Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), ‘Cunningham (NSW) by-election’, 19 October 2002, AEC website, viewed 30 June 2011, http://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/supplementary_by_elections/cunningham/index.htm; S Bennett, The Cunningham by-election 2002, Research Note no. 18, 12 November 2002, viewed 30 June 2011, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22library%2Fprspub%2F1DV76%22

[69].              Proportional representation is also used in the upper houses of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. The Hare–Clark version of Proportional Representation is used in the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly and the Tasmanian House of Assembly. Senate Brief no 1, Electing Australia’s Senators, May 2011, viewed 27 June 2011, http://www.aph.gov.au/binaries/senate/pubs/briefs/pdf/brief01.pdf

[70].              Australian Greens, Submission to the Electoral Reform Green Paper, viewed 5 July 2011, http://www.finance.gov.au/parliamentary-services/docs/Australian_Greens_Whip.pdf

[71].              N Price, ‘Have your say: Liberals give Greens their preferences in Melbourne, Melbourne Leader, 9 August 2010, viewed 14 July 2011, http://melbourne-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/liberals-give-greens-their-preferences-in-melbourne/

[72].              This trend was also evident in the 2011 NSW state election. See Antony Green’s Election Blog, ‘Green support by polling place at the 2011 NSW election’, ABC Elections, viewed 16 January 2012, http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/greens/ 

[73].               Australian Politics and Elections Database at the University of Western Australia website, viewed 23 June 2011, http://elections.uwa.edu.au. The Greens’ result shown here for the 1993 and 1996 federal elections for the House of Representatives represents a number of Green party groupings, including the Tasmanian Greens and Greens WA from Western Australia. In the 1998 federal election all previous Green party groupings agreed to endorse candidates under the name of the Australian Greens, except the Greens WA in Western Australia who maintained their own party label.

[74].              Australian Politics and Elections Database at the University of Western Australia website, viewed 23 June 2011, http://elections.uwa.edu.au. The Greens’ results in the 1991 and 1993 federal elections for the Senate represent a number of Green party groupings which fielded candidates under a variety of party names.

[75].              Bob Brown cited in M Grattan, ‘Power shifts at the top’, The Age, 25 June 2011, p. 18, viewed 27 June 2011, http://www.theage.com.au/national/power-shifts-at-the-top-20110624-1gjh7.html; Klaus Newmann, ‘How the Greens took Baden-Württemberg’, Inside Story, 28 March 2011, viewed 27 June 2011, http://inside.org.au/how-the-greens-took-baden-wurttemberg/print/

[76].              Jaensch, ‘Parliament is about to get Green’, op. cit.

[77].               N Abjorensen, ‘The Senate game-change’, Inside Story, 1 June 2011, viewed 20 December 2011, http://inside.org.au/the-senate-game-change/print/

[78].              The Australian Greens & The Australian Labor Party (‘The Parties’) – Agreement, 1 September 2010, viewed 1 July 2011, http://greens.org.au/sites/greens.org.au/files/Australian%20Greens_ALP%20agreement.pdf

[79].              House Standing Committee on Procedure, Inquiry into Procedural Changes Implemented in the 43rd Parliament, Interim Report no. 1, presented on 13 May 2011, clauses 3.11–3.18, pp. 20–1, viewed 12 September 2011, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=proc/proceduralchanges/index.htm

[80].              Politics and Public Administration Section, The hung Commonwealth Parliament: the first year, Background Note 2010–11, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 7 October 2011, p. 11, viewed 23 November 2011, http://parlinfo/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/1136144/upload_binary/1136144.pdf;fileType%3Dapplication%2Fpdf

[81].              See Appendix 3— Private Members’ and Senators’ bills introduced by Australian Greens. Two of the bills, the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Fair Protection for Firefighters) Bill 2011 and Territories Self-Government Legislation Amendment (Disallowance and Amendment of Laws) Bill 2011, were passed into law in 2011.

[82].              Parliament of Australia, Senate Statistical Information, Divisions, 2002–2011.

[83].              Since 1989, every Australian state and territory has had a hung parliament, and some more than once. See N Horne, Hung parliaments and minority governments, Background Note, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 23 December 2010, p. 1, viewed 12 November 2011, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/449692/upload_binary/449692.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22library/prspub/449692%22

[84].              Christine Milne, interview with Airlie Ward, Stateline, ABC, 10 March 2006, viewed 14 December 2011, http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/tas/content/2006/s1588941.htm

[85].              P Larmour and M Haward, ‘Evaluating and comparing the Accord’, in M Haward and P Larmour, eds, The Tasmanian Parliamentary Accord and public policy 1989–92: accommodating the new politics?, Federalism Research Centre, Canberra, 1993, p. 206.

[86].              K Crowley, ‘Tasmania’s governing partnership: the possibilities and the perils’, Inside Story, 6 September 2010, viewed 14 December 2011, http://inside.org.au/tasmanias-governing-partnership-the-possibilities-and-the-perils/

[87].              Ibid.

[88].              B Kampmark, ‘Tasmanian Greens and the terror of coalitions’, Eureka Street, vol. 20, issue 5, 26 March 2010, viewed 14 December 2011, http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=20189

[89].              Crowley, ‘Tasmania’s governing partnership, op. cit.

[90].              See ACT Greens/Labor Parliamentary Agreement, Joint Communique, 2 November 2011, viewed 14 December 2011, http://act.greens.org.au/content/act-greenslabor-agreement

[91].              N Abjorensen, ‘The Green–Labor alliance: one year on’, Inside Story, 10 November 2009, viewed 14 December 2011, http://inside.org.au/the-green-labor-alliance-one-yhar-on/

[92].              It was chaired by the Prime Minister with membership including the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency as Deputy Chair, two representatives from the Australian Greens, and one independent MP, together with four expert advisers.

[93].              Election 2010, interview with Prime Minister Julia Gillard MP, Ten News, 16 August 2010, viewed 13 January 2011, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22emms%2Femms%2F179580%22

[94].              ‘Yes, I vowed no carbon tax: Gillard’, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 February 2011, viewed 16 January 2012, http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/yes-i-vowed-no-carbon-tax-gillard-20110227-1b9lw.html

[95].              For example, see D Shanahan, ‘Greens win is Labor’s loss’, The Australian, 30 September 2011, viewed 16 January 2012, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/greens-win-is-labors-loss/story-e6frgd0x-1226152195180

[96].              Cited in B Packham and J Massola, ‘Australia to have carbon price from July 1 2012, Julia Gillard announces’, The Australian, 24 February 2011, viewed 16 January 2012, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/gillard-to-reveal-climate-policy-today/story-e6frg6n6-1226011223441

[97].              The Bills were passed in the Senate on 8 November 2011, and had passed into law by 4 December 2011. See K Swoboda, J Tomaras and A Payne,  Clean Energy Bill 2011, Bills Digest no. 68, 2011–12, Parliamentary Library, 28 October 2011, viewed 16 January 2011, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/billsdgs/1185490/upload_binary/1185490.pdf;fileType%3Dapplication%2Fpdf

[98].              A Tillett, ‘Policies that leave us guessing’, West Australian, 12 August 2011, p. 1; T Walker, ‘Faint flicker of hope for Gillard’, Australian Financial Review, 30 July 2011, p. 5.

[99].              Christian Kerr, ‘The Greens and Labor: it’s time for a divorce’, IPA Review, vol. 63, no. 2, June 2011, p. 3; P Kelly, ‘Labor wedged on climate change’, The Australian, 18 May 2011, viewed 18 August 2011, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/commentary/labor-wedged-on-climate-change/story-e6frgd0x-1226057802958

[100].              ‘Greens in coalition with Labor, Democrats say’, ABC News, 9 September 2004, viewed 14 December 2011, http://search.proquest.com/docview/457737963/abstract#center

[101].              N Miragliotta, ‘One Party, Two Traditions’, p. 586.

[102].              M Grattan, ‘The small fry start swim upstream’, Age, 29 October 2007; R Peake, ‘Brown flags Labor preference deal’, Canberra Times, 29 October 2007, cited in Bennett and Barber, Commonwealth election 2007, op. cit.

[103].              P Hudson, ‘Greens to impose “extreme” agenda, Minchin warns’, Sunday Age, 1 August 2004, p. 2.

[104].              Cited in Michelle Grattan, ‘History looms for Greens’, The Age, 2 August 2010, viewed 12 September 2011, http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/history-looms-for-greens-20100801-111h3.html

[105].              Andrews, ‘The Greens’ agenda’, op. cit., p. 35.

[106].              B Nicholson, ‘Green policies scarier than Labor’s says John Howard’, The Australian, 18 July 2011, viewed 10 August 2011, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/carbon-plan/greens-policies-scarier-than-labors-says-john-howard/story-fn99tjf2-1226096401452

[107].              J Gillard, ‘Speech to the Don Dunstan Foundation’, Adelaide, 16 March 2011; ‘Speech to the Inaugural Whitlam Institute Gough Whitlam Oration’, Sydney, 31 March 2011, viewed 12 August 2011, http://www.pm.gov.au/press-office?tid%5B%5D=363&keys=Greens&date_filter%5Bvalue%5D%5Byear%5D=2011&date_filter%5Bvalue%5D%5Bmonth%5D=3

[108].              See, for example, M Franklin and R Callick, ‘Partnership tested as PM rejects Brown asylum attack’, The Australian, 9 September 2011, viewed 16 January 2012, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/partnership-tested-as-julia-gillard-rejects-bob-browns-asylum-attack/story-fn9hm1gu-1226132695019.

[109].              Since September 2011, the Greens have disagreed with the Government over its handling of the Tasmanian Forestry Agreement with the Greens leader, Senator Brown, stating that he will not continue his routine meetings with the Prime Minister until the matters are resolved.  See Bob Brown interviewed by Emily Bourke, ‘Brown and Gillard in forestry stoush’, ABC News, 11 January 2012, viewed 17 January 2012, http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2012/s3405593.htm

[110].              Cited in Bennett, The rise of the Australian Greens, op. cit., p. 21.

[111].              Manne, ‘The Rise of the Greens’, p. 12.

[112].              Bennett, The rise of the Australian Greens, op.cit, p. 27.

[113].              Editorial, ‘Checks and balances needed’, Canberra Times, 30 July 2011, p. 22.

[114].              B Wright, ‘One year on’, About the House, Parliament House, Canberra, August 2011, p. 55.

[115].              Madden, Australian Democrats: the passing of an era, op. cit.

[116].              Latham at Large, 60 Minutes, 12 August 2010, viewed 12 September 2011, http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/stories/7944020/latham-at-large

[117].              J Norman, Bob Brown: Gentle revolutionary, Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, 2004.

[118].              See for example J Massola, ‘Bob Brown denies Greens leadership threat from Christine Milne’, The Australian, 10 March 2011, viewed 20 December 2011, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/bob-brown-denies-greens-leadership-threat-from-christine-milne/story-fn59niix-1226018960198; M Ronaldson, ‘No green pastures ahead in post-Bob Brown era’, The Punch, 5 May 2011, viewed 20 December 2011, http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/no-green-pastures-ahead-in-post-bob-brown-era/

[119].              G Pearse, ‘A Green balance?’, The Monthly, July 2010, p. 25.

[120].              ‘Timeline of environmental movement in Australia’, Australian Greens website, viewed 12 July 2011, http://greensmps.org.au/history; Global Greens website, viewed 12 July 2011, http://www.globalgreens.org/officeholders; Kyoto Protocol website, viewed 14 July 2011, http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/status_of_ratification/items/2613.php; M Mann, ‘History of the Australian Green Movement’, Ecodirectory, 2011, viewed 12 July 2011, http://www.ecodirectory.com.au/index.php/green-history

[121].              A Green, 2011 NSW Election Preview – Analysis of Past Voting Patterns by Electorate, NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service, Background Paper No. 1/2011, pp. 103-4, viewed 15 July 2011, http://www.abc.net.au/elections/archive/nsw/NSW2011_ElectionPreview.pdf; A Green, 2011 NSW Election: Analysis of results, NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service, Background Paper No. 3/2011, pp. 5, 44, viewed 15 July 2011, http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/publications.nsf/0/5782D7DAA39DF57ACA25790B001FE146/$File/2011+New+South+Wales+Election+BP+3,2011.pdf

[122].              Ibid.

[123].              A Green, 1992 Victorian State Election Summary of Results, ABC-TV Election Unit, September 1995, pp. 7, 37; A Green, 1996 Victorian State Election Summary of Results, ABC Election Unit, December 1998, pp. 3, 31; A Green, 1999 Victorian State Election Summary of Results, ABC Election Unit, June 2001, pp. 3, 31; S Bennett, Victorian election 1999, Research Paper No. 19, 1999-2000, Parliamentary Library, viewed 15 July 2011, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22library%2Fprspub%2F4IA16%22; State Election Results, Victorian Electoral Commission, viewed 15 July 2011, http://www.vec.vic.gov.au/Results/results-state.html#3

[124].              Ibid.

[125].              Election Statistics, South Australian Elections, Electoral Commission SA, 20 March 2010, Part 3: House of Assembly Election Data, p. 243; Results and outcomes, State Election 18 March 2006, State Electoral Office South Australia, p. 15, viewed 15 July 2011, http://www.ecsa.sa.gov.au/archive/2006/pdf/Results_and_Outcomes_Booklet3.pdf

[126].              Election Statistics, South Australian Elections, Electoral Commission SA, 20 March 2010, Part 2: Legislative Council Election Data, p. 40; Results and outcomes, State Election 18 March 2006, State Electoral Office South Australia, p. 10, viewed 15 July 2011, http://www.ecsa.sa.gov.au/archive/2006/pdf/Results_and_Outcomes_Booklet3.pdf

[127].              House of Assembly Election Results 1909-2010, Tasmanian Parliamentary Library, viewed 15 July 2011, http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/tpl/Elections/ahares.htm

[128].              A Green, Western Australian State Election 1996, Election Papers Series no. 1/2001, Western Australian Parliamentary Library, pp. 5, 29; A Green, Western Australian State Election 2001, Election Papers Series no. 2/2001, Western Australian Parliamentary Library, pp. 5, 35; A Green, Western Australian State Election 2005, for the Western Australian Parliamentary Library, p. 5; A Green, Western Australian State Election 2008, Analysis of Results, Election Papers Series no. 1/2009, March 2009, Western Australian Parliamentary Library, pp. 5, 33.

[129].              Ibid.

[130].              A Green, The Queensland Election 1995, Research Bulletin no. 1/95, Queensland Parliamentary Library, Brisbane, October 1995, p. 3; A Green, 1998 Queensland Election 13 June 1998, ABC Election Unit, January 1999, p. 3; A Green, Election summary, ABC Elections website, viewed 14 July 2011, http://www.abc.net.au/elections/qld/2009/guide/summary.htm; Electoral Commission Queensland, Election information and results, viewed 14 July 2011, http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/elections/index.html?ekmensel=c547ab44_6_83_btnlink

[131].              Past ACT Legislative Assembly Elections, Australian Capital Territory Electoral Commission, viewed 15 July 2011, http://www.elections.act.gov.au/elections_and_voting/past_act_legislative_assembly_elections; ACT Electoral Commission, Report on the ACT Legislative Assembly Election 2008, Canberra, 2009, Appendix 1, p. 83.

[132].              NT Electoral Commission, Past Election/Referendum Results, viewed 15 July 2011, http://notes.nt.gov.au/nteo/Electorl.nsf?OpenDatabase

[133].              Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia 2011, Part 6: Historical information on the Australian Parliament, pp. 410–77, viewed 20 December 2011, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/handbook/newhandbook/2011-10-13/toc_pdf_repeat/Preface.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf