Article: Party's 'Queensland to Greenland' push

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Party's 'Queensland to Greenland' push

Party's 'Queensland to Greenland' push

Amy Remeikis
March 9, 2012 - 5:11PM

With a few balloons, an acoustic song and a rallying cry for voters to embrace the alternative, the Greens officially launched their state election campaign.

Under the slogan "Tomorrow Needs Your Vote For Today", lead Greens candidate Adam Scott, who is challenging deputy premier Andrew Fraser for the seat of Mount Coot-tha, Queensland Senator Larissa Waters and Greens federal leader Bob Brown echoed another party's message that this was a time for change - a Greens change.

Mr Stone warned against Queensland voters repeating the mistakes of the southern states and allow themselves to be seduced by the words from the Liberal National Party, claiming only a Greens vote would protect Queensland's environment and industry.

To a rousing reception from the 100 or so people in the audience, Mr Stone outlined the Greens' plans for the state, which included a moratorium on coal seam gas mining, a retaining state owned assets, preventing uranium mining and putting a stop to "dodgy developer donations".

They also sketched a plan for "people infrastructure" above "mining infrastructure".

Mr Brown and Ms Waters were enormously confident in Mr Stone's chances of becoming the first Greens elected MP to the Queensland state parliament.

"We are just absolutely proud of all 89 candidates and Adam in particular, will be a strong voice for Mount Coot-tha, forward thinking, big hearted, intelligent, an absolutely magnificent representative for the Greens and the people of Mount Coot-tha," Ms Waters said in introducing Mr Stone to the media.

Mr Stone said he thought the Greens' health policy was "probably the one which will be of most interest to the broader public".

He said the current trajectory of health spending was unsustainable.

"But the real option for improving that, the only real option that jumps forward as being a solution for getting our health system onto a sustainable footing, is to start harvesting all this low hanging fruit of prevention," Mr Stone said.

"With over 30 per cent of what turns up in our hospital system coming from preventable causes, yet only less than 5 per cent of the state's health budget being spent on prevention, we really need to do a whole lot better if we are going to ensure that hospitals remain available for the unpreventable, acute medical needs, which was their intended purpose."

Mr Stone said the Greens would establish a $20 million Queensland health promotion foundation, based on the Victorian model, "which would start giving us a way forward" and keep people well.

A further $25 million was earmarked for community mental health services.

Standing next to Mr Stone, who was sandwiched between the Greens leader and Ms Waters, Mr Brown said the health policy was one of the party's common sense solutions.

"Very low cost but very great impact for people in the Queensland community in terms of health," he said.

Mr Brown also gave his former staffer a ringing endorsement; "he's a very intelligent, well thought out, mature option for the people of Mount Coot-tha," while pointing out that all Greens candidates were the best choice for voters fed up "with both the old parties".

He called it triple value voting – a vote for the candidate, a full value vote for the major party preferenced if that candidate was unsuccessful, as well as a vote for the future.

But who is preferenced "that's up to the local Greens".

Mr Stone said there was no room under Queensland's electoral law for preference deals as it was a voter's prerogative how they numbered the candidates on the ballot paper.

He said he hadn't made a decision on who he would suggest preferences for, other then to say that "historically" in Mount Coot-tha, the Greens had never recommended a preference for either major party.

When it comes to Ashgrove, Mr Brown said there was one clear candidate choice.

"Sandra Bayley is a really great candidate with enormous integrity and for people who want to send a message to both the old parties, they should vote one Greens in Ashgrove, then decide which of the other parties they are going to vote for," he said.

"She is the best option for the seat."

Mr Stone said neither Kate Jones nor Campbell Newman could afford to discount preference flows.

"Given the contest is so tight in Ashgrove and the successive polling, it must be the most polled place in the state shows how tight it is, then I think preference flows from any party contesting that seat are obviously going to be influential," he said.

Queensland had been a tough state for the Greens to crack, a fact Mr Stone put down to "no upper house".

"I think it is as simple as that," he said.

"We have a good healthy vote and a lot of support but because there is no upper house in Queensland, it not only compromises the effectiveness of our parliament, but it means there is nothing like proportional voting available in Queensland and that makes it harder for all small parties."

But the Greens hope this election will turn the tide, the one where Queensland, becomes, "Greenland".

Asked if he would feel any disappointment on behalf of Mr Fraser, if he managed to oust the potential future Labor leader front runner from his electoral seat, Mr Stone didn't need long to answer.

"I think I could learn to live with it," he said.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/state-election-2012/partys-queensland-to-greenland-push-20120309-1upjs.html