Greens Western Australia, commonly known as the Greens WA, is a
member party of the
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and th ...
in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. The Greens (WA) was formed following the merger of the Western Australian Green Party with the Green Earth Alliance composed of the Vallentine Peace Group and Alternative Coalition in 1990. The Party became officially affiliated with the Australian Greens in 2003.
There is currently only one representative in the Legislative Council:
Brad Pettitt
Bradley William Pettitt (born 14 July 1972) is an Australian politician, who was Mayor of Fremantle in Western Australia from 2009 until 2021. At the 2021 state election, Pettitt was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council as the ...
. The party also has two representatives in the
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...
:
Jordon Steele-John, who replaced
Scott Ludlam
Scott Ludlam (born 10 January 1970) is a New Zealand-born Australian former politician. A member of the Australian Greens, he was a senator in the Australian Senate from July 2008 to July 2017 and served as deputy leader of the Greens. Ludlam ...
in 2017 following the latter's resignation, and
Dorinda Cox
Dorinda Rose Cox (born c. 1976) is an Australian politician and a Yamatji-Noongar woman. She is the first Indigenous woman to represent Western Australia in the Senate. In 2020 she won preselection as the Australian Greens' lead Senate candidate ...
, who replaced
Rachel Siewert
Rachel Mary Siewert (born 4 November 1961) is an Australian politician. She was a senator for Western Australia from 2005 to 2021, representing the Australian Greens, and served as the party's co-deputy leader from 2017 to 2018. She previously w ...
following her resignation in 2021.
History
Origins and history of formation
The Greens (WA) grew out of the growing
counter-cultural
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...
, environmental, anti-nuclear and peace, social and political concerns after the fall of the
Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...
government, particularly articulated by
Jim Cairns
James Ford Cairns (4 October 191412 October 2003) was an Australian politician who was prominent in the Labor movement through the 1960s and 1970s, and was briefly Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam government. He is best re ...
in the
Down to Earth movement that saw community sustainability emerging as an important issue. The
Campaign to Save Native Forests
The Campaign to Save Native Forests (W.A.) (CSNF) was the name of a grassroots organisation which grew from a campaign started in Perth, Western Australia, in 1975, as a response to the development of a woodchipping industry in the south-west jar ...
and an environmental campaign against the
Alcoa
Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...
refinery at
Wagerup first brought together many activists, some of whom were later to be involved in the Greens. The campaign in Tasmania to prevent the
damming of the
Franklin River
The Franklin River is a major perennial river located in the Central Highlands and western regions of Tasmania, Australia. The river is located in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park at the mid northern area of the Tasmanian Wilderne ...
, further alerted Australia to environmental issues as never before.
Anti-nuclear and peace concerns led to record numbers attending rallies in the 1980s, led by the umbrella group People for Nuclear Disarmament, (PND). One of those peace activists, Jo Vallentine, was elected in 1984 as Senator for the Nuclear Disarmament Party, (NDP). She later left the party after its infiltration by an extreme left group and registered the Vallentine Peace Group in Western Australia.
Many of these activists from the peace, anti-nuclear and disarmament movements, as well as from environment, social and political groupings were to become important organisers of future political developments. Some were inspired by the West German Greens (as they then were) as well as the many successful community campaigns in WA and throughout Australia.
After the victory in saving the Gordon and Franklin Rivers in Tasmania, activists on the east coast established "Committees of Correspondence" to keep in touch and organised a "Getting Together" Conference in Sydney. At this conference there was a call to establish an Australian Greens political party for the first time. In the mid-eighties there were many looking for an alternative to the Labor Party; were not satisfied with the Democrats and were disappointed after the collapse of the NDP.
Delegates who had gone to Sydney returned and became involved in organising a "Getting Together" conference in Western Australia, held at Hollywood High School, Easter 1987. This brought together various conservation and activist groups all proposing various models of alternative political organisation.
One example set up was the WA Ecology Party, (Eco Party). For a while there was a Green Alliance. Another example was the group established by Jan Jermalinski and others in the inner-city suburbs of Victoria Park and Carlisle called the Victoria Park/Carlisle Greens which ran Georgina Motion for Swan federal electorate under the banner of Swan Alternative Electoral Campaign (SAEC). Other local groups calling themselves "green" at the time in 1987 were the Western Suburbs Greens established by The Democrats and the Northern Suburbs Greens.
Later in 1987 and early 1988, these various "green" groups, along with The Democrats (Senator Jean Jenkins Office), various far left parties, peace and community activists pushed the establishment of an Alternative Electoral Coalition to plan a campaign for the 1989 State Election. The AEC was very much of an inner city leftist and social justice character. Later it became the Alternative Coalition. The unifying principles of the AEC were modelled on those of the German Greens; Peace; Social Justice, the Environment and Participatory Democracy.
In the south-west of the state, Louise Duxbury, who was running mate with Jo Vallentine in the 1987 federal election, a peace and environmental activist living in Denmark and
Christine Sharp decided to set up a loose network called Green Development to run a candidate for the State Upper House of South West. This network drew on the support of a network of experienced activists living in the rural South-West.
However the name "greens", registered with the Australian Electoral Commission was controlled by the Sydney Greens. At this time in Western Australia it was not fully understood how important this was, although the name "greens" was being used by various groups.
Eventually some coming from the Eco Party and others got permission from the Sydney Greens to formally set up a party called The Western Australian Green Party. This party decided to run a statewide campaign in the 1989 state election.
After the 1989 election a single fact became clear, the name "green” was vital electorally. Although the Alternative Coalition campaigned heavily in South Metropolitan Upper House electorate and ran lower house candidates in Fremantle and Cockburn, throwing a lot of resources into this campaign, their percentage vote was matched by The WA Green Party campaigning in most electorates out of a campaign office in North Fremantle with few resources, just relying on the strength of the name "Green". Hence after the election negotiations began in earnest between these groups for unity. Therein lay the difficulty; the simple fact that the Western Australian Green Party controlled the electoral registration of the name Greens and the others did not.
To satisfy the demands of the Australian Electoral Commission, the Vallentine Peace Group and the Alternative Coalition formed a Green Alliance, later renamed the Green Earth Alliance. The Western Australian Green Party initially declined to join this.
During 1989, things were proceeding very slowly between The Western Australian Green Party and the Green Earth Alliance. The real breakthrough was probably the visit, initiated by Jo Vallentine of Petra Kelly from the West German Greens, who gave a great speech to a large audience at the Octagon Theatre, University of WA and the extra push was on.
A proposal was made to unite all existing groups into a new statewide party called The Greens WA. A democratic grass roots organisational model was drafted, consisting of regional groups based on Federal electorates and reporting to a Representatives Council; which model still exists today. Jo Vallentine would become the first Greens WA senator and all would unite under the West German Greens aims of Peace; Social Justice, the Environment and Participatory Democracy.
Just before the unification ceremony at the University of WA Sunken Gardens on 1 January 1990, the mailing lists of four organisations were combined which gives a reasonable measure of the support each group brought in. As of 1989 in terms of size, the Vallentine Peace Group was by far the largest network with about 4000 on its network list and this list was heavily drawn upon by Green Development which had about 1000, the Alternative Coalition 400, and the Western Australian Green Party about 100. However these lists included a considerable overlap of activists. However the organisations that actually signed the unification agreement were The Greens Party WA and the Green Earth Alliance composed of the Vallentine Peace Group, the Alternative Coalition and Green Development. Individual members of Green Development signed for themselves.
After The Greens WA was formally launched, it took a while to get the organisation up and running. However, by 1991 it was clear that power had actually devolved down to the Regional Groups level in a genuine grass roots organisation. The party almost immediately participated in the 1990 federal campaign and although achieving modest electoral support managed to cover most of the state booths and secure the re-election to the Senate of Jo Vallentine this time as the first The Greens WA Senator.
Jo Vallentine retired from parliamentary politics in 1992, and her place was taken by
Christabel Chamarette
Christabel Marguerite Alain Chamarette, sometimes Christabel Bridge (born 1 May 1948) was a Greens Senator for Western Australia from 1992 to 1996.
Personal life
Born in Hyderabad, India in 1948, Chamarette is of Anglo-Indian and French Huguen ...
, added to with the election of a second Greens Senator in
Dee Margetts
Diane Elizabeth Margetts (born 5 March 1955), known as Dee Margetts, is a former Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1993 to 1999 and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2001 to 2005, rep ...
. The election of Jim Scott to the State Upper House Legislative Council at the state election in 1993 gave the party its first state representative. This representation has grown over successive years with Christine Sharp winning the South-West Legislative Council seat at the 1996 general election and after two terms being succeeded by Paul Llewelyn.
The question of whether to join the newly formed Australian Greens became a heavily disputed issue in 1992 with the proposal to join being lost. Another vote in 1999 was also lost. The Greens WA had worked closely with the Australian Greens, but they were still not formal members. Finally in September 2003, The Greens WA held a ballot of all the membership on the question of formally joining the Australian Greens confederation. There was an 80% vote in favour. On 11 October 2003 at the Australian Greens National Conference, The Greens WA were formally accepted as members of the
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and th ...
."
With the collapse of the
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...
, the Greens vote has continued to grow. At the
2009 Fremantle state by-election
The 2009 Fremantle state by-election was held in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly district of Fremantle on 16 May 2009. It was triggered by the resignation of sitting member Jim McGinty.
The Labor Party was defending a seat that they ...
, Greens candidate
Adele Carles
Adele Simone Carles (born 19 February 1968) is a former Australian politician. She was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2009 to 2013, representing the electorate of Fremantle. She was initially elected as a Greens W ...
received 45 percent of the primary vote to Labor's 38 percent, and 54 percent of the
two-candidate vote to Labor's 46 percent, becoming the first Greens candidate to be elected to an Australian state lower house of parliament in a single-member seat. A later scandal involving former Liberal leader and Treasurer
Troy Buswell
Troy Raymond Buswell (born 19 March 1966) is a former Australian politician who was a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2005 to 2014, representing the seat of Vasse. He was Treasurer of Western Australia in the ...
saw Carles leave the Greens to sit as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
. Carles lost her seat at the
2013 state election.
[http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/states/wa/wa20132.txt ]
Election results
Members of Parliament
Federal Parliament
File:Jordon-Steele-John-2019 (cropped).jpg, Senator Jordon Steele-John (2017–present)
File:Senator Dorinda Cox.jpg, Senator Dorinda Cox
Dorinda Rose Cox (born c. 1976) is an Australian politician and a Yamatji-Noongar woman. She is the first Indigenous woman to represent Western Australia in the Senate. In 2020 she won preselection as the Australian Greens' lead Senate candidate ...
(2021–present)
Former federal members
* Senator
Jo Vallentine
Josephine Vallentine (born 30 May 1946) is an Australian peace activist and politician, a former senator for Western Australia. She entered the Senate on 1 July 1985 after election as a member of the Nuclear Disarmament Party but sat as an ind ...
(1990–1992)
* Senator
Christabel Chamarette
Christabel Marguerite Alain Chamarette, sometimes Christabel Bridge (born 1 May 1948) was a Greens Senator for Western Australia from 1992 to 1996.
Personal life
Born in Hyderabad, India in 1948, Chamarette is of Anglo-Indian and French Huguen ...
(1992–1996)
* Senator
Dee Margetts
Diane Elizabeth Margetts (born 5 March 1955), known as Dee Margetts, is a former Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1993 to 1999 and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2001 to 2005, rep ...
(1993–1999)
* Senator
Rachel Siewert
Rachel Mary Siewert (born 4 November 1961) is an Australian politician. She was a senator for Western Australia from 2005 to 2021, representing the Australian Greens, and served as the party's co-deputy leader from 2017 to 2018. She previously w ...
(2005–2021)
* Senator
Scott Ludlam
Scott Ludlam (born 10 January 1970) is a New Zealand-born Australian former politician. A member of the Australian Greens, he was a senator in the Australian Senate from July 2008 to July 2017 and served as deputy leader of the Greens. Ludlam ...
(2008–2017)
State Parliament
*
Brad Pettitt
Bradley William Pettitt (born 14 July 1972) is an Australian politician, who was Mayor of Fremantle in Western Australia from 2009 until 2021. At the 2021 state election, Pettitt was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council as the ...
MLC (2021–present)
Former state members
*
Jim Scott Jim or Jimmy Scott may refer to:
Music
* Jimmy Scott (1925–2014), American jazz vocalist
* Jim Scott (producer), music engineer and producer
* Jim Scott (musician), acoustic guitar player and songwriter
* Jimmy Scott (songwriter), British-born mu ...
MLC (1993–2005)
*
Chrissy Sharp
Christine Sharp (18 November 1947 – 18 May 2021) was an Australian politician, who was a Greens member of the Western Australian Legislative Council representing South West Region from 1997 to 2005.
Early life
Born in London, Sharp comple ...
MLC (1997–2005)
*
Giz Watson
Elizabeth Mary "Giz" Watson (born 18 January 1957) is an English-born former Australian politician, and a former leader of The Greens, Western Australia.
Biography
Watson was born in 1957 in Eastleigh, a town in Hampshire, England, and emigra ...
MLC (1997–2013)
*
Dee Margetts
Diane Elizabeth Margetts (born 5 March 1955), known as Dee Margetts, is a former Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1993 to 1999 and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2001 to 2005, rep ...
MLC (2001–2005)
*
Paul Llewellyn MLC (2005–2009)
*
Lynn MacLaren
Lynn Ellen MacLaren (born 24 March 1962) is an American-born former Australian politician.
Early life
MacLaren was born in Colorado Springs and studied journalism at university in California, where she began a career in journalism as the chief ...
MLC (2005, 2009–2017)
*
Adele Carles
Adele Simone Carles (born 19 February 1968) is a former Australian politician. She was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2009 to 2013, representing the electorate of Fremantle. She was initially elected as a Greens W ...
MLA (2009–2010)
*
Robin Chapple
Robin Howard Chapple (born 11 February 1947) is an Australian politician.
From 2001 to 2005 Chapple represented the Mining and Pastoral Region for the Greens. He was defeated in the 2005 state election but was re-elected in the 2008 electio ...
MLC (2001–2005, 2009–2021)
*
Alison Xamon
Alison Marie Xamon (born 8 June 1969) is an Australian Greens politician who served two separate terms in the Western Australian Legislative Council.
Early life
Xamon was born in Mundaring, Western Australia
Xamon studied law and arts at Murd ...
MLC (2009–2013, 2017–2021)
*
Diane Evers
Dianne Evers (born 9 November 1956) is a retired female tennis player from Australia. With her partner Judy Chaloner, she won the 1979 Australian Open Doubles title and had a career high singles ranking of No. 42.
Tennis career
Evers began ...
MLC (2017–2021)
*
Tim Clifford MLC (2017–2021)
Historical logos
Greens WA logo (historical).svg, Logo used at the party's foundation.
Greens_WA_logo_(former).svg, Former logo of the party.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
Political parties in Western Australia