Greens Western Australia
Encyclopedia
The Greens Western Australia is the state branch of the Australian Greens
in Western Australia
. The Greens WA was formed following the merger of the WA Greens and the Green Earth Alliance. The Party only became officially affiliated with the Australian Greens in 2003.
There are currently four representatives of the party in the Western Australian Legislative Council
: Giz Watson
, Alison Xamon
, Robin Chapple
, and Lynn MacLaren
. The Greens WA also have two representatives in the Australian Senate
: Senator Rachel Siewert
, who was elected in the 2004 election, and Scott Ludlam
, who was elected to the Senate in the 2007 election.
, environmental, social and political concerns after the fall of the Whitlam
government, particularly articulated by Jim Cairns
in the Down to Earth movement that saw community sustainability emerging as an important issue. The Campaign to Save Native Forests
and an environmental campaign against the Alcoa
refinery at Wagerup first brought many of the activists who were later to be involved in the Greens together. The campaign in Tasmania to prevent the damming
of the Franklin River
, further polarised Australia on environmental issues as never before, and many activists who had been a part of the Down to Earth movement and the Confest
s (Community Conference-Festivals) that it had organised in Western Australia, became involved. The leader of the opposition Bob Hawke
just before his successful election to government gave a speech at the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, on the possibility of land sharing communities of the type long advocated by the Down to Earth movement, and at a 10th anniversary of the Aquarius Festival
gathering at Nimbin
, the Australian Association of Sustainable Communities (AASC) was formed. A Western Australian Branch of this organisation was started December 1983. Meanwhile, after the victory in saving the Gordon and Franklin Rivers in Tasmania, activists on the East Coast established "Committees of Correspondence" to keep in touch and organised a "Getting Together" Conference in Sydney the following Easter, at which the WA AASC sent 5 candidates. At this conference there was a call to establish an Australian Greens political party for the first time.
The five who went to Sydney returned and became involved in organising a "Getting Together" conference in Western Australia, held at Hollywood High School, the following Easter. Bringing together many conservation groups in Western Australia, at the conclusion of that Conference, the decision to form a WA Greens was unanimously passed.
The attempt to create a unified party, however, was very difficult. Independently of the Hollywood Conference, which was attended by Jo Vallentine, the then independent Peace Senator for Western Australia, Paul Llewellyn
, Nadine Lapthorne and Kim Herbert had independently registered "The Green Party" as a name for a political party. Jan Jermalinski and others had been part of a campaign to establish a Greens group in Victoria Park and Carlisle
, where they had stood a candidate against Kim Beazley
of the ALP in the previous election. In addition in the following state election Louise Duxbury, living in Denmark stood for the Upper House as a "Green Development" candidate, and a "Rainbow Coalition" group, broadly sympathetic to the green movement, fielded candidates in Fremantle.
Late in 1986, a local Western Suburbs Greens formed, on the model of the Victoria Park Carlisle
Greens, largely as a result of the assistance of Richard Jeffries, who was an organiser with the Australian Democrats
, Vivienne Elanta
and John Croft , and then a Northern Suburbs Greens formed in 1988 on the same model. Prominent Members of the Northern Suburbs greens were Eddie Speed and his wife, who later both stood for seats in various elections, Vivienne Elanta
, who later stood as a candidate for the seat of Marmion, and Kim Herbert, who also stood for the Northern Metropolitan seat at a subsequent election. Similar groups started in Fremantle
and elsewhere, and these groups organised a Representatives Council, which organised a constitution for the Alternative Coalition. After a protracted series of negotiations, all the separate Green groups, with the exception of the Green Party came together within the umbrella of the Green Earth Alliance, and with the transfer of Jo Vallentine's organisation to the WA Greens it found it had its first parliamentary member.
with the election of a second Green Senator in Dee Margetts
. The election of Jim Scott to the state Legislative Council for the South Metropolitan Region
in the next state election in 1993 gave it its first state representative, which as grown over successive years.
"The Greens (WA) have worked closely with the Australian Greens but had not become formal members. In September 2003 The Greens (WA) held a ballot of all the membership on the question of formally joining the Australian Greens confederation. There was a 80% vote in favour. On 11 October 2003 at the Australian Greens National Conference the Greens (WA) were formally accepted as members of the Australian Greens
."
With the collapse of the Australian Democrats
, Green votes have continued to grow. In the 2009 State Election for the Seat of Fremantle Adele Carles
received 45 percent of the primary vote (first preferences) to Labor's 38 percent, and 54 percent to Labor's 46 percent, after the transfer of other preferences, giving the Greens their first lower house seat and became the first Green to be elected as a state lower house member of parliament in Australia.. A later scandal involving Liberal member Troy Buswell
, saw Carles leaving the Greens to take the seat as an independent.
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. The Greens WA was formed following the merger of the WA Greens and the Green Earth Alliance. The Party only became officially affiliated with the Australian Greens in 2003.
There are currently four representatives of the party in the Western Australian Legislative Council
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
: Giz Watson
Giz Watson
-Biography:Watson was born in 1957 in Eastleigh, a town in Hampshire, England, and emigrated to Western Australia in September 1967, travelling extensively through the state. She studied environmental science at Murdoch University and, after leaving university to do voluntary work for a couple of...
, Alison Xamon
Alison Xamon
-Early life:Xamon was born in Mundaring and later moved to eastern metropolitan Perth.Xamon studied law at Murdoch University and served as Education Vice President and then Guild President for the Murdoch University Student Guild....
, Robin Chapple
Robin Chapple
Robin Chapple is a Greens politician serving in the Western Australian Legislative Council. From 2001 to 2005 Chapple represented the Mining and Pastoral Region...
, and Lynn MacLaren
Lynn MacLaren
Lynn Ellen MacLaren is an Australian politician.On 15 February 2005, she was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council as a Greens WA member for South Metropolitan Region, following Jim Scott's resignation to contest the lower house seat of Fremantle.MacLaren was defeated at the 2005...
. The Greens WA also have two representatives in the Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
: Senator Rachel Siewert
Rachel Siewert
Rachel Mary Siewert is an Australian Greens politician who was elected to represent Western Australia in the Australian Senate at the 2004 federal election....
, who was elected in the 2004 election, and Scott Ludlam
Scott Ludlam
Scott Ludlam is an Australian politician and Greens member of the Australian Senate since July 2008, representing the state of Western Australia....
, who was elected to the Senate in the 2007 election.
Origins
The Greens WA grew out of the growing counter-culturalCounter Culture
Counter Culture is a 2005 compilation double album by English folk/rock singer-songwriter Roy Harper featuring 25 classic Roy Harper songs, cherry picked according to his mood in April 2005. This collection spans 35 years of song writing and is intended as an introduction for anyone who's not sure...
, environmental, social and political concerns after the fall of the Whitlam
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
government, particularly articulated by Jim Cairns
Jim Cairns
James Ford "J. F." Cairns , Australian politician, was prominent in the Labor movement through the 1960s and 1970s, and was briefly Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam government...
in the Down to Earth movement that saw community sustainability emerging as an important issue. The Campaign to Save Native Forests
Campaign to Save Native Forests
The Campaign to Save Native Forests was the name of a grassroots organisation which grew from a campaign started in Perth, Western Australia, in 1975, as a response to the development of a woodchipping industry in the south-west Jarrah and Karri forests of Western Australia...
and an environmental campaign against the Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
refinery at Wagerup first brought many of the activists who were later to be involved in the Greens together. The campaign in Tasmania to prevent the damming
Franklin Dam
The Franklin Dam or Gordon-below-Franklin Dam project was a proposed dam on the Gordon River in Tasmania, Australia, that was never constructed. The movement that eventually led to the project's cancellation became one of most significant environmental campaigns in Australian history.The dam was...
of the Franklin River
Franklin River
The Franklin River lies in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park at the mid northern area of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Its source is situated at the western edge of the Central Highlands and it continues west towards the West Coast of Tasmania...
, further polarised Australia on environmental issues as never before, and many activists who had been a part of the Down to Earth movement and the Confest
Confest
ConFest is an alternative bush campout festival held in the south-eastern states of Australia at New Year and Easter. The name 'ConFest' derives from combining the words conference and festival. The festival was first held in 1976 near Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory...
s (Community Conference-Festivals) that it had organised in Western Australia, became involved. The leader of the opposition Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
just before his successful election to government gave a speech at the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, on the possibility of land sharing communities of the type long advocated by the Down to Earth movement, and at a 10th anniversary of the Aquarius Festival
Aquarius Festival
The Aquarius Festival was a counter-cultural arts and music festival organised by the Australian Union of Students and sponsored by Peter Stuyvesant and held at Nimbin...
gathering at Nimbin
Nimbin, New South Wales
Nimbin is a village in the Northern Rivers area of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately 30 km north of Lismore, 33 km southeast of Kyogle, and 70 km west of Byron Bay....
, the Australian Association of Sustainable Communities (AASC) was formed. A Western Australian Branch of this organisation was started December 1983. Meanwhile, after the victory in saving the Gordon and Franklin Rivers in Tasmania, activists on the East Coast established "Committees of Correspondence" to keep in touch and organised a "Getting Together" Conference in Sydney the following Easter, at which the WA AASC sent 5 candidates. At this conference there was a call to establish an Australian Greens political party for the first time.
The five who went to Sydney returned and became involved in organising a "Getting Together" conference in Western Australia, held at Hollywood High School, the following Easter. Bringing together many conservation groups in Western Australia, at the conclusion of that Conference, the decision to form a WA Greens was unanimously passed.
The attempt to create a unified party, however, was very difficult. Independently of the Hollywood Conference, which was attended by Jo Vallentine, the then independent Peace Senator for Western Australia, Paul Llewellyn
Paul Llewellyn
Paul Llewellyn is an Australian politician. Llewellyn graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Murdoch University in 1977, and a Masters in Natural Resource Management from the UWA school of Agricultural and Resource Economics in 1984. He has worked as an environmental planning and...
, Nadine Lapthorne and Kim Herbert had independently registered "The Green Party" as a name for a political party. Jan Jermalinski and others had been part of a campaign to establish a Greens group in Victoria Park and Carlisle
Electoral district of Victoria Park
The Electoral district of Victoria Park is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. Victoria Park is named for the inner southeastern Perth suburb of Victoria Park which falls within its borders.-History:...
, where they had stood a candidate against Kim Beazley
Kim Beazley
In the October 1998 election, Labor polled a majority of the two-party vote and received the largest swing to a first-term opposition since 1934. However, due to the uneven nature of the swing, Labor came up eight seats short of making Beazley Prime Minister....
of the ALP in the previous election. In addition in the following state election Louise Duxbury, living in Denmark stood for the Upper House as a "Green Development" candidate, and a "Rainbow Coalition" group, broadly sympathetic to the green movement, fielded candidates in Fremantle.
Late in 1986, a local Western Suburbs Greens formed, on the model of the Victoria Park Carlisle
Electoral district of Victoria Park
The Electoral district of Victoria Park is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. Victoria Park is named for the inner southeastern Perth suburb of Victoria Park which falls within its borders.-History:...
Greens, largely as a result of the assistance of Richard Jeffries, who was an organiser with the Australian Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
, Vivienne Elanta
Vivienne Elanta
Vivienne Heloise Elanta was a Western Australian environmental activist.-Personal life:Born in Germany, Elanta was the eldest of Gertraud Adler and Robert Neuman's five children. She had just six years of schooling...
and John Croft , and then a Northern Suburbs Greens formed in 1988 on the same model. Prominent Members of the Northern Suburbs greens were Eddie Speed and his wife, who later both stood for seats in various elections, Vivienne Elanta
Vivienne Elanta
Vivienne Heloise Elanta was a Western Australian environmental activist.-Personal life:Born in Germany, Elanta was the eldest of Gertraud Adler and Robert Neuman's five children. She had just six years of schooling...
, who later stood as a candidate for the seat of Marmion, and Kim Herbert, who also stood for the Northern Metropolitan seat at a subsequent election. Similar groups started in Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
and elsewhere, and these groups organised a Representatives Council, which organised a constitution for the Alternative Coalition. After a protracted series of negotiations, all the separate Green groups, with the exception of the Green Party came together within the umbrella of the Green Earth Alliance, and with the transfer of Jo Vallentine's organisation to the WA Greens it found it had its first parliamentary member.
Further Developments
The Greens (WA) was thus "established in 1990 following the merger of the W.A Green Party and the Green Earth Alliance, which was itself the product of an earlier merger between the Alternative Coalition, the Vallentine Peace Group and Green Development. All these groups drew inspiration from the West German Greens (as they then were) as well as the many successful community campaigns in WA and throughout Australia". Jo Valentine retired from parliamentary politics in 1992, and her place was taken by Christabel ChamaretteChristabel Chamarette
Christabel Marguerite Alain Chamarette, sometimes Christabel Bridge was a Greens Western Australia Senator for Western Australia from 1992 to 1996.-Personal life:...
with the election of a second Green Senator in Dee Margetts
Dee Margetts
Diane Elizabeth Margetts was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1993 to 1999 and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2001 to 2005, representing the Greens Western Australia....
. The election of Jim Scott to the state Legislative Council for the South Metropolitan Region
Electoral region of South Metropolitan
The electoral region of South Metropolitan is a multi-member electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the southern suburbs of Perth. It was created by the Acts Amendment Act 1987, and became effective on 22 May 1989 with five members who had been elected at the...
in the next state election in 1993 gave it its first state representative, which as grown over successive years.
"The Greens (WA) have worked closely with the Australian Greens but had not become formal members. In September 2003 The Greens (WA) held a ballot of all the membership on the question of formally joining the Australian Greens confederation. There was a 80% vote in favour. On 11 October 2003 at the Australian Greens National Conference the Greens (WA) were formally accepted as members of the Australian Greens
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
."
With the collapse of the Australian Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
, Green votes have continued to grow. In the 2009 State Election for the Seat of Fremantle Adele Carles
Adele Carles
Adele Simone Carles is an Australian politician. She has been a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since May 2009, representing the electorate of Fremantle. Initially elected as a Greens WA member, she resigned from the party on 6 May 2010 to sit as an independent...
received 45 percent of the primary vote (first preferences) to Labor's 38 percent, and 54 percent to Labor's 46 percent, after the transfer of other preferences, giving the Greens their first lower house seat and became the first Green to be elected as a state lower house member of parliament in Australia.. A later scandal involving Liberal member Troy Buswell
Troy Buswell
Troy Raymond Buswell is currently the Liberal member for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Vasse, and the Minister for Transport and Minister for Housing. He was Leader of the Opposition for several months in 2008, then served as Treasurer of Western Australia in the Barnett...
, saw Carles leaving the Greens to take the seat as an independent.
Past Parliamentarians
- Australian Senate: Jo VallentineJo VallentineJosephine Vallentine is a peace activist and a former Australian Senator for Western Australia. Vallentine entered the Senate on 1 July 1985 after she had been elected as a member of the Nuclear Disarmament Party but she sat as an independent and then as a member of the Greens Western Australia...
, Dee MargettsDee MargettsDiane Elizabeth Margetts was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1993 to 1999 and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2001 to 2005, representing the Greens Western Australia....
, Christabel ChamaretteChristabel ChamaretteChristabel Marguerite Alain Chamarette, sometimes Christabel Bridge was a Greens Western Australia Senator for Western Australia from 1992 to 1996.-Personal life:... - West Australian Legislative Council: Jim ScottJim ScottJim Scott is a guitarist, singer/songwriter and composer in the genres of jazz, classical and folk music.-Life:Jim Scott has made it his business to create and perform music that celebrates peace, justice and the earth. He co-wrote the celebrated Missa Gaia - Earth Mass and many other pieces with...
, Chrissy SharpChrissy Sharp-Early life:Born in London, Sharp completed a Bachelor of Arts with Honours at the University of Sheffield, and a Master of Arts at the University of Kent...
, Dee MargettsDee MargettsDiane Elizabeth Margetts was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1993 to 1999 and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2001 to 2005, representing the Greens Western Australia....
, Paul LlewellynPaul LlewellynPaul Llewellyn is an Australian politician. Llewellyn graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Murdoch University in 1977, and a Masters in Natural Resource Management from the UWA school of Agricultural and Resource Economics in 1984. He has worked as an environmental planning and...
Current Parliamentarians
- Australian Senate: Rachel SiewertRachel SiewertRachel Mary Siewert is an Australian Greens politician who was elected to represent Western Australia in the Australian Senate at the 2004 federal election....
, Scott LudlamScott LudlamScott Ludlam is an Australian politician and Greens member of the Australian Senate since July 2008, representing the state of Western Australia.... - West Australian Legislative Council: Giz WatsonGiz Watson-Biography:Watson was born in 1957 in Eastleigh, a town in Hampshire, England, and emigrated to Western Australia in September 1967, travelling extensively through the state. She studied environmental science at Murdoch University and, after leaving university to do voluntary work for a couple of...
, Robin ChappleRobin ChappleRobin Chapple is a Greens politician serving in the Western Australian Legislative Council. From 2001 to 2005 Chapple represented the Mining and Pastoral Region...
, Lynn MacLarenLynn MacLarenLynn Ellen MacLaren is an Australian politician.On 15 February 2005, she was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council as a Greens WA member for South Metropolitan Region, following Jim Scott's resignation to contest the lower house seat of Fremantle.MacLaren was defeated at the 2005...
, Alison XamonAlison Xamon-Early life:Xamon was born in Mundaring and later moved to eastern metropolitan Perth.Xamon studied law at Murdoch University and served as Education Vice President and then Guild President for the Murdoch University Student Guild....