Former Greens leader Dr Bob Brown recently boasted he was proud of the anti-Adani convoy which travelled through Central Queensland during last year's federal election campaign.
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The convoy, he told the media, had secured the re-election of Queensland Greens Senator, Larissa Waters. Of course, we will never know whether that is true.
Senators are elected by the whole state and who knows, maybe the convoy tickled the fancy of enough voters in inner-city Brisbane to get her across the electoral line?
But we can be pretty sure the convoy had a much different impact in regional Queensland communities like Rockhampton, Gladstone and Townsville.
One thing is certain, the convoy damaged the Labor Party because it highlighted Bill Shorten's ill-considered equivocation over the Adani Mine proposal.
That's political death in regional Queensland where support for the coal mining industry is strong and people place a high value on every job opportunity. Why would Dr Bob Brown run his convoy through regional Queensland where he knew it would be met with a hostile response?
The convoy had been through Brisbane and a couple of towns in northern NSW where there is a level of anti-fossil fuels sentiment. These towns were fertile ground for a few extra Green votes. But why press into enemy territory?
The answer is simple: Brown doesn't want to win the climate change war. Nor do the Greens collectively. Ask yourself the question; where would the Greens be if the decades-long carbon conflict came to an end? What would they campaign on? How would they fundraise if governments ramped-up their climate change responses and the issue was neutralised?
Bob Brown and his followers aren't looking for policy solutions, they are looking for votes. It's crystal clear and it's nothing new.
In 2009 the Greens voted against the Rudd Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) in the Senate. Rudd had promised an emissions trading scheme during the 2007 election campaign. John Howard had promised one too. But the Greens declared the CPRS was not good enough and the scheme fell over.
It would be naive to believe the Greens took a principled stand. They had been arguing for a carbon constraint policy for years and the passage of the CPRS through the Parliament would have delivered one. They should have happily voted for it.
Like the GST, if the CPRS was in place today no would even know it was there. Carbon emissions would be lower and coal and gas industries would still be strong. But the Greens would be without their favourite protest tool. So much for policy purity.
PERSPECTIVE IS NEEDED
Not one of us was impressed with the Australia Post Cartier watch controversy but let's keep it in perspective.
First, in an era when we regularly hear stories about over-the-top executive bonuses, a $5000 bonus is not extraordinary and would not have been controversial if it had been delivered in cash. Second, the bonus was allegedly a reward for those who had closed a deal with the major banks which now allows people living in our regions to do their banking at the local post office. Third, the $20,000 bonus pales into insignificance when compared with the $30 million paid for a block of dirt in western Sydney worth $3 million.
The Prime Minister was quick to run the CEO of Australia Post out of town for a $20,000 misadventure, but where's the scalp for the $30 million land deal? Shocking hypocrisy!
