Welcome to Giz's websiteWelcome to the website of Giz Watson, Member of the Legislative Council for the North Metropolitan Region in Western Australia. I am opposed to any loss of Rosalie Park and the reduction of space for sporting groups. It seems particularly ironic that a planning proposal from the health sector is reducing the vital open space needed for good public health! The problems of lack of space for parking at QE11 during the period of expansion must have been long anticipated and should have been properly planned for. I will be working with community members to: The editorial in Tuesday’s (24/08/2010) West Australian made a few assertions and raised a few important questions. The author suggested The Greens must consider how much of its increased vote was a result of support for its platform and how much was simply a protest. By comparison, if there is a swing to the ALP or Liberal Party, are those parties asked to consider to what extent their vote was simply an expression of dissatisfaction with the alternative? If Tony Abbott does become Prime Minister, will he be asked to dump his extreme plan to cut $4.5 billion from education and training programs because Queensland voters turned against Labor after being angered by the dumping of Kevin Rudd? Will the Coalition be asked to re-consider their radical platform in light of the fact it could not win more than 50 percent of the two-party preferred vote? Further, electors making a “protest vote” predominantly lodge an informal vote. The author claimed there was little scrutiny of the Greens’ policies during the election campaign. In stark contrast to Labor and the Liberals, The Greens presented our full complement of policies for public scrutiny long before the election was even called. Our detailed policies were and continue to be available on our website, and in our publicity material, literature and policy handbooks. Is the author suggesting that certain sections of the media mostly ignored The Greens’ campaign and policies? We do our best to promote our policies and principles. The rest is up to the media and the public. Generally speaking, members of the public showed a great deal of interest in our policies during the election campaign. The author raised examples of “idealistic” policies; including same sex marriage – which has the support of 60 to 70 percent of Australians, and that parliament, rather than only cabinet, should have the final power to sanction any act of war. Enacting this “idealistic” Greens policy would bring Australia into line with practices used in 18 other democracies, including the United Kingdom. There’s nothing radical or idealistic about vesting the power to go to war in the hands of parliament, rather than cabinet. While half a million Australians are on waiting lists for dental care – for an average wait of 27 months – only The Greens put forward a plan for universal public dental care at this election. The gaping holes in this country’s dental health system demonstrate a “radical” failure on the part of successive Labor and Liberal governments, while The Greens have developed a sensible solution. In addition, our “radical” policies include; high-speed rail links (adopted by Labor during the campaign), opposition to the proposed internet filter (adopted by the Liberal Party during the campaign), limiting political donations to individuals and not companies (touted by senior Liberal Malcolm Turnbull since the election) and increased funding for mental health (seized by both major parties during the campaign). When Senator Bob Brown warned his fellow senators of the danger of climate change and rising sea levels and urged them to take action in the 1990s, the ALP and Liberal members laughed in response – they believed it “radical” or “idealistic”. The vast majority of Australians would now agree that The Greens showed foresight and vision on this critical issue. We are proud to call for a 40 percent cut to greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and a 90 percent reduction by 2050 – it is what is necessary if Australia is to play a responsible role in stabilising the climate. In respect of the patronising warning that The Greens “keep their power in perspective and wield it judiciously” the author conveniently ignores two facts. First, that the balance of power can only be exercised when the ALP and the Coalition disagree, a situation that arises at the most about 20% of the time. Second, that The Greens have a lot of experience with balance of power. Here in WA The Greens held the balance of power in the Legislative Council for 12 years. This has resulted in significant improvements with regards to increased negotiation and sharing of information between all parties. The Greens emphasis on consensus, participation, respect for other members and restraining from personal attacks has greatly affected the business of the Council. Similarly we are respected for our integrity and the fact that we consider each matter on its own merits. If the support for The Greens and the policies we are pursuing is a “protest vote” then it could understandably be a protest against the negative campaigning and personality politics of the old parties so evident in this election. But it may equally be interpreted as a vote for positive vision for a compassionate and sustainable future for all Australians. Giz Watson MLC Congratulations to every hard working member for an outstanding achievement! We are very proud of the overall result in WA and of course throughout Australia. Rachel Siewert is assured of retaining her seat in the Senate for another 6 years and will be joined by 4 new Greens Senators from the other states next July to make a strong 9 Greens Senate team. All our Candidates and campaign teams worked so very hard for this. Our use of strong positive messaging and visionary policies across a broad range of issues has paid off. WA and Tasmania both lead the way again by having the 2 highest state percentage votes. From the early results the Greens in WA are averaging about 12.7% of the vote for the House of Reps and 14% for Rachel in the Senate. We have achieved this remarkable result by our strong and committed membership and supporter base AND with less than 10% of the budget of the 2 ‘old’ parties. Some journalists are still trying to grapple with the fact that The Greens are the third force in politics. One of our tasks now is to educate them about how we do politics differently and better so keep writing letters to the paper and talking in your community about the issues that really matter. We now have a by-election to run in Armadale and hope that everyone will get behind our Candidate, Owen Davies, and the team on the 2nd October 2010. Please contact the office if you can donate or help in any with this campaign. The Greens – Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things The WA Planning Commission is currently taking submissions on a proposed change to the Metropolitan Region Scheme that would realign the northern suburbs railway reservation west (between the freeway and Marmion Avenue reservations) and realign the reservation for Romeo Road further north. The deadline for any submissions is 17 September 2010. In addition to doing a submission, if you have concerns about the proposal you are welcome to contact Giz’s office. The WA Planning Commission is currently taking submissions on a proposed change to the Metropolitan Region Scheme that would develop the Port of Fremantle by rezoning approximately 25.34ha to consolidate all operational areas in the Fremantle Inner Harbour area. The deadline for any submissions is 5pm 15 October 2010. In addition to doing a submission, if you have concerns about the proposal you are welcome to contact Giz’s office. On this site, you can
For information on Greens policies, please visit the Greens WA website. View a map of the North Metropolitan Region here. |
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