Time to Grill the Greens

The Greens have always been a fringe political party in Australia. As such they have typically received votes from the "hippy left". But last election saw a change - with the "latte left", particularly those from inner Melbourne, starting to shift preferences to the party.

At the most idealistic level the Greens seem to be a party who care for the environment; however, voters and the media need to look at them in detail.

Firstly we must look at their people - Andrew Wilkie (currently independent but ran as a Green previously)  is a disgraced ex-member of the Australian Army. An intelligence officer who, in moral protest to Australia's involvement in Iraq, deliberately leaked official secrets to the media(2004 Article here). A strong government and judiciary should have gone after Wilkie and charged him with offences under the secrets acts, much like Jean-Philippe Wispelaere . But now he is touted as Greens hero - more specifically another "Greens Criminal".

The Green support criminal action. Bob Brown, the longest serving, now retired, Greens senator published an opinion piece in both The Australian and The Age on 11 January, supporting illegal activities as an act of civil disobedience. The Whitehaven scandal, perpetrated by Jonathan Moylan, was regarded by Bob Brown and Senator Christine Milne, the current leader of the Greens, as an act of environmental activism. Both Brown and Milne fail to acknowledge the  $300m of share value lost from the company. The mum and dad investors who had their margins called and their retirement saving. But again - humans are the collateral damage acceptable to the Greens.

How much human cost must we accept for the Greens polices?

Secondly, and most importantly, most people voting for the Greens, fail to understand their policies. Only a small portion of the Greens policies are about the environment. The remainder of their policies are poorly thought out, borderline communist, policies that would have disastrous consequences on the Australian economy. They strive to destroy, or at least disrupt, the free market. Again leaving actual people - parents, children,  grandparents, teens, the unemployed - as acceptable collateral damage.

The media, as a whole, has been weak in chasing the Greens. They take their media bites, but fail to grill them on their answers, on their policies and on their people.

It is time to hold the Greens to account - like any other party that significant sway on the future of Australia and its people.