Gösta Lyngĺ, ACT Greens
I have been lucky enough to follow the rise of two Green Parties, in Sweden and in Australia. Originally an astronomer at a Swedish university I first got involved because of wishing to
counter the low political standing of our environment. I joined the Swedish Greens and learned to analyse my own green ideology as a member of a local council, later of the Swedish
parliament. On retirement I moved to Australia, my wife's country of birth and took part in starting the ACT Greens, one of the member parties of the
Australian Greens. Here I have mainly been occupied with policy development and election campaigns. During the past two decades I have come to the view that the root of the
world's social and environmental problems is to be found in a twisted world economy where the greed of ever fewer powerful individuals and companies
squeeze ever larger parts of the world's population. Only a major economic reform can create a basis for a healthy environment and give the opportunities that they deserve to the world's citizens. THE AUSTRALIAN GREENS SOUTH AUSTRALIAN STATE BRANCH
The South Australian branch of The Australian Greens is a relatively new party on the Australian political scene. We are based in the state's capital city,
Adelaide which is nestled between hills and beautiful beaches. To the north are the Flinders Ranges and the beginning of Australia's vast outback while to
the south are more beautiful beaches and many wineries.We have contested two federal elections and one state election as well as one round of council elections. Success came in 2000 when one of our
candidates for the council elections, Joy O'Brien, was elected to the Council of Burnside, in the eastern suburbs of Adelaide. Over the next year we will be
faced with both a state and federal election and, due to the doubling of our support across Australia in the last two years, hope to finally reap the rewards
of years of hard work and get a member into parliament. There are two environmental issues in SA that tend to dominate the activist
and political scenes. The first of these is the nuclear industry which includes the mining of uranium for export overseas as well as the use of the state's
outback as a waste dump for radioactive materials. The vast majority of the people of SA do not support this industry and the Greens, alongside other
local environmental groups, have campaigned actively against it. However despite much public opposition both the State and Federal governments have
blatantly supported the nuclear industry and its continued expansion. SA looks set to become known as the nuclear state if the government continues
to do deals with big business while ignoring the wishes of its people. Unfortunately there still appears to be no end in sight for this struggle that so many activists have fought against for decades.
The second issue of major concern to South Australians is the condition of our water supply. We have the unfortunate tag of being "the driest state on the
driest continent on earth", though our water conservation record seems to imply that at times we think we are one of the wettest regions on the planet!
Experts are predicting that the water in Adelaide will be undrinkable by the year 2020. We desperately need a representative of The Greens in parliament
to push for tougher regulations on water usage while working towards the implementation of policies that encourage water conservation among businesses and industries as well as householders.
These are just two issues. Unfortunately (as is always the case!) there are countless others, including issues concerning social justice, the economy and
political representation. The members of the SA Greens who will be going to the Global Greens 2001 conference look forward to the sharing of experiences,
of the inspirational stories as well as the frustrations and disappointments, with other green activists from Australia and around the globe. |
