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Greens deserve rational scrutiny

By Nils von Kalm - posted Monday, 25 July 2011


The problem with this criticism is that many Australians have no idea how preference voting works. You don't have to follow what the how-to-vote card says at all, but thousands of people don't know that. They think that you have to vote according to the how-to-vote card. The Greens have been trying to educate people against that.

When it comes to economics, contrary to popular opinion, the Greens are not out to destroy our way of life. What they want in terms of economic policy is to reduce tax breaks for high-income earners, a new top marginal tax rate of 50 per cent on incomes of $1 million or over, and no increase or extension to the GST.

And, as Andrew West wrote in The Age recently, "a study last year by Ipsos found 86 per cent believe government should be more aggressive regulating activities of national and multinational corporations',' and "75 per cent of Australians believe that large or foreign corporations are more powerful than governments - and hold too much influence over their own.''

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West adds that, "a Galaxy poll last year found 59 per cent wanted a levy on bank profits just like the Gillard government's planned tax on mining super profits. Two specific Greens policies that particularly enrage the establishment - higher taxes on the super rich and an inheritance tax on multimillion-dollar estates - are far from left-wing radicalism. Last December, a survey of 1300 people by the Australia Institute found more than 80 per cent of people supported a crackdown on tax loopholes used by the wealthy."

The Greens have also been criticised for wanting to reduce subsidies for private schools (something that Labor supported a few years ago as well). But the reason the Greens want more funding for public schools and less for private schools is because the ratio of funding for private schools compared to public schools has been skewed in favour of private schools in proportion to the number of private schools to public ones. A just and compassionate response would be to have it the other way around.

One of the most contentious issues in recent years that the Greens have spoken out on is that of refugees. The alarmist position usually goes along the lines of the myth that the Greens want to allow as many boats and refugees in as they like. As with many other emotion-laden arguments that are not based on actual evidence, this is also incorrect.

Firstly there is no such thing as an illegal immigrant. Australia has signed and ratified the UN Refugee Convention making this country a safe haven for those seeking asylum. Further, the Greens would turn back people who are not found to be genuine refugees.

The Greens want compassion for asylum seekers, more than 90% of whom are found to be genuine refugees. Then there is the fact that only about 5% of asylum seekers come by boat. The rest come by plane. And how about the many more tourists who overstay their visas? I don't hear anyone else complaining about us being overrun by them.

The above examples are reflective of the depths to which political debate has plunged in Australia over recent years. One of the reasons (and there are many) that the level of political debate in this country is so bad at the moment is because it is too short sighted and lacks mature leadership.

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We are like the adolescents who demand their own way regardless of the consequences. If only we had more people like Leslie Cannold speaking out about our immaturity.

She recently wrote that, "our personal feelings and interests – our hip pockets, every thought-bubble, each emotional twitch – cannot be the central concern of those running the world if we want the world to run properly. Some of us would like to shed our inner-Veruca Salt and aspire to something higher. Whisper to us, leaders of Australia. Stop replying to our every ill-informed, over-hyped whinge with well-versed empathy and solicit a heartbeat from our better selves."

The current hysteria over the carbon tax is all about how it will affect your hip pocket and not so much how it will benefit our children. A mature society led by mature leaders will look to the common good and the long-term future. Our current debate is the opposite of that and brings out the worst in human nature.

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About the Author

Nils von Kalm is a funding coordinator at World Vision Australia who also enjoys writing about social, political and cultural issues. His website is at www.soulthoughts.com

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