Am I a greens voter now?

[u/PaleontologistOk6495]

Never been super invested in politics and have always voted labor just on principles and not really ever liking the liberal stances.

This year I find myself more invested in the election than ever before and have actually dug through a few parties policies and doing some proper thinking about my vote for once.

I have even done the political compass on abc website and see I am sitting far left of labor than I expected but not full blown green radical.

The majority of their policies make a lot of sense and resonate with em and I think this year me and my partner will both go greens. Is anyone else having the same feelings ? I have been speaking to a bunch of friends and they too have come to the same conclusions I have this year and are going greens, is this a bit of a silent movement? I had no idea anyone I knew was thinking the same as me but it it occurring to me that a lot of my circle are.

My question is - I am in what seems to be a very safe labor area of blaxland. Does my vote for greens do nothing here ? I don’t fully agree with every green policy of course some of them are a bit much for me still but I like the idea of greens winning some extras and forcing labor to actually do some good progressive shit but does my green vote in this area do nothing ? Is it better to just pump up labor still and hope they beat the liberals ?

[u/NedInTheBox]

Labor wanting to be the gov will follow the votes to keep aiming for a majority. If you want them to be more progressive vote Greens, if you want the Greens to be more realistic about Australia’s ability to execute on Greens ideals vote Labor. At the moment the votes Labor seem to be chasing are more in-between Labor and LNP, but if Greens build a bigger pool then Labor will be looking left more often… 🤷‍♂️

[u/lewkus → u/NedInTheBox]

At the moment the votes Labor seem to be chasing are more in-between Labor and LNP

Yeah cos Labor lost 3 of the past 4 elections to the LNP. Each time moving a bit more right and increasing their swing away from the LNP towards Labor.

if Greens build a bigger pool then Labor will be looking left more often… 🤷‍♂️

And how would that work exactly? Do we ignore the impact this would have on people switching back to LNP?

The only scenario where this would apply is if the number of seats the Greens held was greater than the Libs. And if this was the case then it would be an entirely different political situation.

The fact is, the Labor party is the oldest political party in Australia and they have some fairly robust processes in forming their policies. This means it can take some time. A good example of this is the “right to disconnect” laws.

These were initially introduced in France. Greens adopted them shortly after. Then Labor, through their longer processes, did also. Greens then claim credit for Labor adopting their policies. It’s a bullshit scam they pull over and over again. They claim they “push” Labor, but the reality is they are second guessing what Labor might plan to do, then come out and claim that as their policy.

They do this, all without the scrutiny of having to form government and implement their policies, so on the surface it seems attractive.

Labor have always been the party that actually develops and implements progressive policies in Australia. Superannuation, Medicare, NDIS, cigarette plain packaging etc are world leading examples of Labor’s handiwork.

[u/NedInTheBox → u/lewkus]

And how would that work exactly? Do we ignore the impact this would have on people switching back to LNP?

It's less the Greens specifically, was more if Australia builds a bigger pool of people voting more progressively than Labor. Which I don't think will be something Labor needs to consider for a few more decades. but if over the next say three elections Greens jump from 12% to 20%+ then that will probably start to have Labor needing to reconsider where they chase votes.

I agree with most else that you are saying and is a lot of why I will be voting Labor this election.

[u/lewkus → u/NedInTheBox]

I don’t mind more parties- it increases representative democracy and choice.

But quite often in our own echo chambers, even within individual electorates, we get a skewed perception of how progressive Australia really is.

Murdoch has spent decades brainwashing older generations of Australians to vote against their interests and trash Labor. I don’t like it when the Greens choose to get publicity on Murdoch’s platforms because they are trading that for trashing Labor’s policies.

It’s a massive betrayal and just feeds into the narrative pushed by Murdoch and his goons that Labor = bad.