A greens NSW election campaign launch event was held on Thursday, April 28th. Adam Brandt, Mereen Faruqi, and David Shoebridge were main speakers, after a reflective  "welcome to country" by Aunty Rhonda.

MP for Melbourne, and Greens leader Adam Brandt outlined climate and energy measures from Greens election platform, which presents fully costed policies and opportunities for the future of Australia. All the policies detailed have been officially costed by the Parliamentary Budget office. If all revenue raising measures and benefits are implemented, they represent a net savings to the Australian Federal Budget.

The measures outlined in Greens policies meet criteria of excellent social and economic management, and supply the "missing in action" policies still most needed for climate change mitigation, environment protection and repair. The "Powering past coal and gas" is a path we have to take. ( Plan Direct Download ). The greens will promote investment in Australia to become a global leader in the use of renewable energy technology.

The greens policy platform details are all laid out for your online exploration here.  The proposed actions directly address our predicaments of global heating, renewable energy, growing inequality, rising costs of rent, homes and living, and the failing moral integrity of political parties elected to government. Our global systems suffer from rising energy and climate costs of mining and burning fossil fuels, and unstoppable decline in their net energy supply.

We are trapped between rising costs of energy and rising global heating consequences. A summary of our predicament, by Richard Heinberg is here. He can say we were warned well in advance that this would happen.  This predicament is also being directly experienced by the USA and global markets. There now is a world wide shortage of Diesel Fuel.

Also notable from the Greens platform is a proposal to invest in more energy storage options for renewable energy. On the small scale for homes with solar panels, and on the larger grid scale to update the grid to better support distributed wind and solar energy, more  grid scale energy storage, and investment in offshore wind energy. Australia must be able to utilize its renewable energy advantages and boost local manufacture using the best energy technology for low green house gas emissions.  All of these together would help transition Australia and the world away from coal and gas, if their is still time and resources.

The global human predicament is only getting worse at present, and the sorts of actions implemented by past Australian governments in earlier and easier economic times have become woven into the national problems of today. Our systems still are too dependent on continued fossil fuel supply. 

For instance there is no easing up of greenhouse gas emissions unless all nations reduce their GDP in real terms, have fewer children on average, and reduce their per person consumption of energy and materials. Car-based culture and cities are unsustainable. A focus on growing the jobs and wealth of a restricted group of people is always going to impoverish many more in the future.

David Shoebridge MLC, has been pre-selected by NSW greens members as number 1 on the Greens Senate ticket, on the basis of his distinguished 12 years record in the NSW upper house. See his Greens page here. If elected the greens with have a historical first of two NSW senators in the next Federal Parliament, where NSW greens senator Mehreen Faruqi is already serving.

David emphasized the need to give coal mining communities a real timetable and transition plan, and not just have corporations give minimum notice.

With a reasonable greens vote for the senate in all states, the Greens could have a record  12 serving greens senators in the next federal parliament.

There is a excellent pre-selected greens party candidate on the ballot paper in nearly every federal electorate. Please preference first. This is never a wasted vote, as the full vote always passed to next preference candidate in the case of vote elimination.

There has been a repeated failure of the ALP and LNP parties, to do anything about the growth of Australia's political stagnation, as federal government has devolved into a subjugated office staff for foreign mining corporations. In foreign policy Australia are most wasteful buyers of wickedly expensive, and dubiously useful tanks, planes and submarines from the USA. Decades of this political ring around driving in circular ruts by now ought to have developed into big red flags for the electorate. The ALP and LNP are still mostly the same parties which are decades behind the times, who focus most intently on destroying each others reputations, while failing to deliver on their parliamentary oaths to the Australian public. They are still playing "hide the corporate donations" game, while their policies destroy country, cripple our energy systems development, accelerate growing climate and environment damage, and continue to hide too much government malfeasance. All of which is still happening right now.

And now for a bit of fun.  Greens have the best policies by far to fight for Australia's Future. Why does the Murdoch mining media continue to besmirch them? The greens gripe about how the mainstream mining media, is trying to steer the general public away from greens policies. "There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." - Oscar Wild.  So talk about greens policies as worth first preference vote, to everyone you know. Its your future too.