Greens name price to share power with Labor take swipe at its diversity woes

The Greens party will begin publicly referring to its parliamentary members as “shadow ministers”, in a move by leader Adam Bandt to sharpen the focus on what he will demand of Labor in any power-sharing agreement after the next election.

Mr Bandt is asking voters to welcome the prospect of a hung Parliament after the next federal election in a strategy to help Labor form a minority government and demand greater action on climate change and inequality.

New Greens senator, Indigenous woman Dorinda Cox, worked as a police officer for eight years.

He has also taken a swipe at the federal opposition over its diversity issues, as the Greens welcomed its second Indigenous woman following her endorsement in a joint sitting of West Australian Parliament on Tuesday.

Senator Dorinda Cox, who replaces Rachel Siewert after 16 years in the upper house, is a Yamatji Noongar woman, an anti-domestic violence campaigner and former police officer. She will be the third woman of colour within the Greens’ 11-person parliamentary ranks.

“I’m proud to be part of a team that reflects the community we’re fighting for. The future of our country should not be just dictated by yet more old, white men. It’s vital that our political representatives reflect the incredible makeup of our country,” Mr Bandt said.

Mr Bandt said his latest reshuffle of what he called “shadow ministerial duties” would give the Greens the best chance of holding the balance of power, as well as shifting public attention to its priority areas of levying “tycoon taxes” on billionaires and big corporations to get dental and mental health into Medicare and build more affordable housing.

Part of the shake-up will also give South Australian senator Sarah Hanson-Young responsibility for electric vehicles, with the Greens calling on the government to support the state to return to an automotive manufacturing powerhouse for low-emissions technology.

Mr Bandt will ask Senator Cox to “tear into” West Australia’s mining billionaires and demand they pay “their fair share of tax” and “think twice about destroying First Nations culture for profit”, in a reference to Rio Tinto’s destruction of historically significant rock shelters at Juukan Gorge last year.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has ruled out entering any power-sharing deal with the Greens in the event neither the Coalition nor Labor can gain a majority on the floor of Parliament at the next poll.

He has previously attacked Mr Bandt for attention-seeking and said in July that Labor would only ever govern in its own right.

“We’re a party of government, and we’re not a party of a coalition with Bob Katter, or with Helen Haines, or with Zali Steggall, or any of the other single people who are there in the Parliament,” he said.

Mr Bandt, who said he needed to shift “only a few hundred votes” to put the Greens in the balance of power, would campaign heavily to younger people, focusing on climate, mental health and affordable housing.

“This is the most important election in a generation. It will decide whether we can turn the climate crisis around, make billionaire corporations pay their fair share of tax and fix the
housing market, or whether the Liberals will get away with robbing millions of people of their future,” he said.

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Rob Harris is the national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based at Parliament House in CanberraConnect via email.

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