The Greens achieved something rare this week: they united the main parties, however briefly.
Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese joined forces to attack Greens leader Adam Bandt for engaging in dirty political tactics by using the Gaza conflict to win votes for his party, at the risk of stoking anti-Semitism and even violence.
The prime minister said Green MPs and senators are spreading misinformation about the conflict in Palestine, calling it “unacceptable.”
Several Labor MPs have seen their constituency offices damaged by pro-Palestinian protesters, and Albanese’s own constituency office in his inner Sydney seat has been closed for more than six months as activists pose a threat.
Dutton went even further, accusing the Greens of “tolerating” such attacks on MP offices, fueling divisions in the community and undermining social cohesion.
Peter Dutton (pictured left) and Anthony Albanese (pictured right) agree that the Greens are a disgrace
Adam Bandt (pictured) is accused of stoking violence and stoking division
But in response, Bandt doubled down, declaring that “the people who support the invasion of Gaza will not lecture you about peace and nonviolence.”
Bandt has even threatened to sue Attorney General Mark Dreyfus, who is also Jewish, for defamation over critical comments he has made about the Greens leader.
Reducing the complex problems of the Middle East to political slogans, designed to make points domestically about a conflict on the other side of the world, certainly shows that the Greens have borrowed from Labour’s “whatever it takes” playbook. However unedifying it may be.
It seems that the Greens are at the center of many political debates, but none of them. Choosing to appeal to a narrow corridor of voters gives the minor party the numbers it needs to win Senate seats in every state, as well as win inner-city seats from both major but predominantly Labor parties.
A party that only wins just over 10 per cent of the vote can do so thanks to the Senate electoral system and the preference agreements it makes with the main parties, particularly the Labor Party.
That’s why the unity between Albo and Dutton quickly came to an end in today’s question time, when the opposition leader challenged the prime minister to intervene and insist the Greens be last on the Labor voting cards. in the next elections.
Dutton also asked if Labor would be willing to use the support of the Greens after the next election to govern as a minority government. A fair question.
But the line of attack gave the prime minister the opportunity to bring these two issues to Dutton’s attention. The Prime Minister reminded him that the Coalition does not leave Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party last, and that the Labor Party does not govern in coalition with another political party: it is the Liberals who do so with the Nationals.
Whatever the current Prime Minister’s failings – and they are increasing in a number of policy areas – his greatest strength is when arguing over domestic political issues.
Anthony Albanese (pictured left) and Peter Dutton (pictured right) will not agree to give preference to the Greens last.
That’s the territory Dutton moved into at the start of question time, before quickly moving on to other issues.
If the Liberals are serious about ostracizing the Greens, they should start by not preferring the minor party over Labor in inner-city seats like Bandt.
Without Liberal preference flows, the Greens would not win the seats they are slowly and steadily winning in these areas.
But Liberal strategists don’t want to do that, just as Labor strategists won’t commit to leaving the Greens last and striking Senate preference deals with them in exchange for favorable preferences in marginal lower house seats. .
Precisely for this reason the prime minister rejected questions on the subject.
In other words, the main parties simply want to attack the Greens for their own political reasons. When it comes to practical monitoring, there is none. Despite all the hairy talk.
Meanwhile, Andrew Giles survives as Immigration Minister, despite his buffoonery. The NDIS are still angry, even spending funds on sex workers and cocaine, if you can believe that. And this week’s economic data reveals that for the fifth consecutive quarter we are in a per capita recession, with growth plummeting to just 0.1 percent.
However, the Treasurer, with characteristic smugness, still uses the floor of parliament to boast about his performance. Patting yourself on the back for his budget when no one else will.
Thank goodness, there are only two more weeks left before the long winter break.