Well, close enough. There was a swing away from the Labour Party, and the Greens had a swing of about 1%, despite not really running a campaign.
And lets face it, Macquarie Fields is hardly a hotbed of dope smoking peaceniks (how the Liberals described the Greens yesterday), and more than one person heckled me by saying “I hope that’s printed on recycled paper”, (about the Green how to vote). Of course it’s recycled paper. Of the very lowest quality, and the cheapest printing we could find. Of course these same people happily took the Liberals glossy broadsheet and dumped it in the bin afterwards. We recycled. Some of our leaflets were used 3 or 4 times. Anyway, enough about recycling, but I do find it amusing that the Greens are open to such pointed scrutiny, yet members of other parties are allowed to be complete assholes and no-one bats an eyelid.
There was an old saying that a woman has to to a job twice as well as a man to be considered half as good. The Greens have to be 1000% more involved, passionate, active, and enthusiastic. We’re expected to carry a green bag with us at all times, ride a bicycle, have a thriving permaculture garden and wind farm in suburbia, volunteer for bush regeneration on the weekends, chain ourselves to trees regularly and save endangered wetlands on public holidays.
Well stuff that. I believe in social responsibility, and I believe that each of us has the power to make a difference. I believe in Grassroots democracy, I believe in Environmental Sustainability, and I believe in Social Justice. I also believe in having a lie in after a long week, having a beer at the end of a long day, and generally being as lazy as I can get away with.
Does that make me a bad Green ?
Disco Knitter 