Greens Co-Founder Says Party Must Return to Environmental Roots After Election Setback
After losing most of its lower house seats at the recent election, the co-founder of the Australian Greens says the party needs to return to its environmental roots and adopt a more pragmatic approach.
Drew Hutton founded the Queensland Greens, and co-founded the Australian Greens alongside retired Senator Bob Brown in the early 1990s.
Hutton now is on the party outer and his membership suspended after opposing the participation of male-to-female trans people in women's activities and sports.
The environmental activist, who once chained himself to a tree in the Brisbane's Queen Street Mall, said that if the Greens wanted to expand their base, they needed to promote proper green causes.
'It wasn't a disaster for the Greens. But the Greens have plateaued in their support,' Hutton told The Epoch Times, adding that preferences contributed to the end result.
'My concern is that they are not pursuing strategies which allow them to talk to ordinary Australians,' he said.
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Activist Drew Hutton in his heyday chained to a tree in Brisbane's Queen Street Mall. The co-founder of the Australian Greens and founder of the Queensland Greens, is now at odds with the party he founded over his support of women's rights. He remains active.
Courtesy of Drew Hutton
'They locked into the youth vote, but the older people get, the less they vote the Greens.'
While the party's overall vote only declined by 0.2 percent, the swing of preferences saw the party lose three of its four lower house seats, including party leader Adam Bandt's seat of Melbourne, which he has held since 2010.
Bandt recorded a 4.8 percent primary swing away from him.
'I think what puts people off is they talk down to people too much and they're not pragmatic enough, they've been too combative,' Hutton said.
'I'm not convinced the Albanese government is going to be receptive to good environmental reforms ... the Greens need to take it right up to the Labor government.
'I've got no problem being aggressive on those things, but they have to be important (things).'
A new Greens leader is yet to emerge and Hutton says the decision will be critical because it could either drive the party back to its origins, or see it drift further away.
Greens for Gaza
Last year, the Greens leadership had hoped to expand its share of seats across several elections, but this did not eventuate.
One of the main factors blamed has been the party's focus on backing Palestine in the Israel-Hamas War.
Greens MPs was often present at pro-Palestinian rallies and university encampments.
In response, one Melbourne Jewish man even lodged
Following the election, defeated Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the Gaza issue was their downfall.
'No spin by Adam Bandt can change the reality that he, and other Green members, lost their seats because of their appalling treatment of the Jewish community,' he said.
'Australians were rightly disgusted at their behaviour.'
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said Bandt's approach to the conflict, which levelled all blame on Israel for Oct. 7, 2023, was not supportive of Palestinians.
'It shows that he is not a supporter of Palestinians at all,' he told the Australian Jewish News. 'He is an exploiter of them. They only interest him as a gimmick through which he can express his hatred for Israel.
'The Greens claim to be counter-establishment and progressive. But they are rooted in the old, failed ideology of communism and the socialism of fools—anti-Semitism.'
Labor's Foreign Minister Penny Wong criticised Bandt for his 'aggressive' approach.
'I think Australians rejected the politics of conflict and the politics of grievance,' she said.
While Labor Minister Tanya Plibersek said the Greens were no longer a party of environmentalists.
'I don't think the Greens is the party of (founder) Bob Brown anymore,' she said.
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