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Issue No. 139 | 07 June 2002 |
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With Prejudice
Interview: Class Action Safety: A Mother's Tale Unions: The Hottest Seat in Town International: Defensive Enterprise Economics: A Super Deal? History: A Radical Life Media: Cross Purposes Review: When the Force Is Unconscious Poetry: Wouldn't It Be Loverly
The Soapbox The Locker Room Bosswatch Week in Review
 Romeo and Juliet?Robbo's RaveLatham Ad NauseumOur Home Is Girt By WireHands Off Hooligans!
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Tool Shed Crossed Wires
************* It was just seven days ago that Brown grabbed national headlines and set the PM's heart a-racing with his brazen statement that he would be prepared to support the sale of Telstra in return for a few trees. Within days, the deal was off, Brown rolled by his own constituency. But the audacious bid to horse-trade a major public asset in the name of virgin forests serves as a reminder of the dangers of single-issue political parties. It was a case of crossed ideological wires as he demonstrated his personal willingness to trade a socially cohesive and just society for the protection of the environment. Brown would argue that the move was justified on the grounds he was delivering on his environment first platform. The status of Old Growth Forests had been a cause celibre' for decades and for Brown, personally, it would have been a glittering prize. Although the Greens claim to have a broad platform -- the reality is that their supporters expect them to deliver on the environment first and foremost. Bob's position was an honest attempt to achieve something real. He is not a Tool for doing this. Bob's in the Shed is that he has exposed the weakness of his own single issue politics. He just couldn't see the wood for the trees. He failed to make the broader connection between the social well being of the population in general and an environmentally sustainable future. The truth is that without a socially just society that is able to equally access the knowledge and wealth of the information age -- we are not going the achieve environmental sustainability. It is all very well to stand for a perfect world where the environment is fully protected, workers are well paid and the means of production and exchange are socialised. But the reality is not so cuddly: it is not possible to be all things to all people. In proposing the Telstra/environment trade-off Bob Brown was implicitly recognising this. He was making the call of a single issue politician; it was just that his party has loftier ambitions and they rolled him. This fiasco exposes both Bob Brown and the Greens, like any other committed progressives, are struggling to juggle the always conflicting objectives. The difference is the Greens' belief that they are pure while the others are sullied by party politics and the compromises of Realpolitik. Bob's unfortunate foray into power-broking highlights the ongoing need for broad-based parties such as Labor -- who are better able to construct a realistic vision for a society that that is both fair and equitable and environmentally sustainable. Brown's passion for the Tasmanian rainforests is both his strength and his Achilles Heel. National leadership is about a cohesive plan; single issues are for pressure groups. As Brown's brief dalliance with Telstra shows, the Greens still need to work out what they exactly are.
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