Saturday 31 July 2010

Saturday SoapBlog: Bryan Law - Vote 1 Greens (below the line)

If he won't be famous, he'll be notorious... however our Bryan Law is no Oscar Wilde.
To peace activists in Australia and New Zealand, he's a hero for free speech and taking direct action, often at personal cost. To others who often accept governments are right and should be obeyed and not questioned, he's a serial stirrer.
The Cairns Post infamously labelled Bryan a serial pest, a serial protester, a serial activist, and even a serial trouble maker. To supporters, Bryan's a veteran, and has well and truly earned his badge over the last 30 years of direct activism. But The Greens won't have him. Maybe his mum told him not to join any club that would have him as a member.

Bryan's election campaign request, is that we should turn green with envy. Oh, and he warns me to look out for some election mischief in the next three weeks.


I first met Bob Brown in 1984 at the Getting Together conference in Sydney.

This was a meeting of environmental / peace activists, after the successes of the Franklin Dam campaign, and national mobilisation around uranium, land rights, and social justice. The question was whether it was timely to forge a national Green party, following the formation of very successful Green parties in Tasmania, Germany, and other European countries.

The gathering affirmed that we should all move in this direction on a State by State basis, developing both the grass-roots movement and a structured political party. In Queensland that translated into Drew Hutton and a group of colleagues forming the 'Rainbow Alliance' to contest elections, while another bunch of us wanted to strengthen the social campaigns all the time and not just at elections. The two courses were seen as complementary, with the formation of a Green party coming down the track.

That situation continued more or less in harmony for the next seven years. One ought always expect some frictions and disturbances in the social movements, and in the interces between social movements and their political representatives, like in the Labour movement. This certainly happened within the rainbow Alliance.

The Queensland Greens were formed in November 1991, in time to join the Australian confederation of Green parties in August 1992. These are the Greens we now get to vote for in State and Federal elections.

I welcomed the formation of all the Greens parties, and supported them morally and financially at every election they ran in.

I decided not to join because I still saw a priority in trying to build the social movements, and a capacity for grass-roots activism. I also wanted to be able to communicate with Australians from all walks of life, particularly rural folk, and I didn’t see The Greens as a good platform for doing that.
In 2004 Drew Hutton came within a whisker of winning a Senate seat in Queensland. Margaret Pestorius and I decided that we would spend the next three years actively supporting the Greens in the hope that 2007 could see the election of a Greens Senator in Queensland. We applied to join.

Unfortunately we got caught up in an internal orgy of bitterness and recrimination among Brisbane Greens. A group calling themselves Grass-roots Greens had disputed Drew Hutton’s continuing monopolisation of the Senate candidacy before the 2004 election, and had run dead when he was the candidate once again. After the election failure the Party split and indulged itself in recrimination, expulsion, and generally negative behaviour. Our membership application got caught up in what was a very ugly dispute.

Unwisely perhaps, I opined during the discussion that responsibility for the election failure was pretty widespread, and that the way to address it was by recruiting more activists and developing a regular and ongoing Greens profile between elections. I pointed to the failures in the Leichhardt electoral campaign as an example of what could be improved. Oops.

Denis Walls and Jon Metcalf took the criticism personally, and sabotaged my membership application. Margaret’s application was rejected simply because she is married to me. The constitutional rorting, back-biting gossip, and destructive nature of Jon and Denis’s behaviour was very disappointing and hurtful.

I am not the only one they’ve done this to.

Margaret and I made the decision to accept rejection. To refuse to retaliate, and to try working with Greens' members to improve the processes inside the Far North Greens – while continuing with our grass-roots activism.

In 2009 I lodged another application for membership with convenor Steve Brech, who agreed a process with me for considering that application at a branch meeting. Secretary Jon Metcalf refused to allow my application to be considered by the branch. So when you read about how 'the members' of The Greens rejected my membership, please realise that most members have never had a chance to consider it – and there has never been a discussion among far north greens about how to improve their election performance.

So I got to decide once again not to seek recrimination.

But now I don’t fully trust The Greens, and am wary of the idea that unprincipled technocrats are running the party simply to win seats in alliance with the ALP. So preference deals like the one announced on day three of this election campaign make me nervous.

At the same time The Greens have by far the best policies in this election, and have some elements within it that seek a different and better way of doing politics.

For these reasons, I’m swallowing my pride and advocating a first preference vote for the Greens on August 21st.

But I’m also echoing Bob Brown in encouraging folk to allocate preferences according to their own principles. For me that requires the dismissal of the KillHard government, and I’ll be giving my preference to Warren Entsch before Jim Turncoat.

Just as The Greens may go down the path of unprincipled political manipulation, the ALP already has. As Stuey Traill says – the union movement was able to take on and defeat Howard’s Work Choices. They have been unable to defeat KRudd and KillHard’s Work Choices because it comes from within the Labor Party. The ALP needs reformation which will not happen while the technocrats can win elections without it.

The Greens will face these same problems.

So I encourage a vote for The Greens in the short term, alliance with the Labour Movement in the long-term, and constant vigilance of those who would manipulate politics through gossip, personal attacks, lies and the abuse of power.
  • If you'd like to jump on the CairnsBlog SoapBlog, just drop me a line and convince me your story is worth a sackful of cashola and should be shared with the free world.

28 comments:

Leuco Gaster said...

This Soapblog is based on a false premise - that anyone cares what Bryan Law thinks.

It is interesting to note, however, Bryan's conciliatory tone when he writes about the Greens - what could motivate him to conceal the bottomless pit of hatred, bitterness and envy that we know he harbours towards our local Greens?

I suspect that he is trying to rationalize his otherwise-incomprehensible decision to vote for the execrable Warren Entsch - because that is what putting Entsch ahead of Jim Turnour amounts to.

All in all, this is quite illuminating of Bryan's strongest motivations - not his Christian belief, not his environmental concerns, not his peace activism, but his never-ending rage at everyone else on the progressive left, because they continue to reject his counter-productive behaviour.

Colin Riddell said...

Sorry bryan I cannot vote for the greens after sending heaps of emails and phone calls .
And personally speaking to senator siewert at the wild rivers senate meeting and with not one response from them at all on the sea turtle dugong killings they can get stuffed. labor and greens equal last.
And a independant that told me personally she eats turtle here in cairns because she "likes the taste of it" can be third last !

Stuey Traill said...

Whatever people think of bryan he certainly has never stopped fighting for what he believes in.
Some say a serial pest, I say we need more like him.
It is only when the people understand our ability to change the world through action that real change will occur.
I certainly hope I see that day but I won't hold my breath.
In solidarity.

Steven Nowakowski said...

In all of my years of being involved in the FNQ Greens no one else has not had their application for membership rejected. Bryan please let the forum know who else has had their application denied.?

Colin said...

DITTO STUEY

Bryan Law said...

Leuco, old buddy (or should I call you Sean?), I don’t identify with “the progressive left”, mostly because people like you now support:

Removal of refugees, and processing them in off-shore concentration camps;

Criminalising construction workers using the star-chamber powers of KillHard’s “Work Choices Lite”;

Rewarding the big polluters with multi-billions of taxpayers’ dollars, and undermining a Carbon price;

Continuing the war in Afghanistan;

Censoring the internet.

If you ask me KillHard's slogan ought be "Moving Australia Forward to Fascism" (with lip service to social justice).

Forgive me if I don’t respond to name-calling, but advocate instead that a Labour/Greens majority majority in the Senate – containing the excesses of an LNP government – is going to be far more effective for social goals in Australia than a Labor government doing deals with the LNP to drag this country further into corporate exploitation and a two tier economy.

chris forsberg said...

Vote Greens ? Vote for more Job losses and
economic stagnation - vote to send your boss broke.

We're all aware that things are TOUGH in Cairns
currently - why is this so ? Well - if you close-
down the half dozen industries that USED to sustain
the city and the region - tough times are inevitable.

The $75 million timber p.a. industry - closed-down by the Greens; the $80 million p.a. tobacco industry - closed-down as politically incorrect - the $10 million p.a. rice industry - closed down after environmentalists accused it of using too much water (out of Tinaroo Dam) - the $100 million p.a fishing industry - gutted by Green political agendas - the $80 million p.a. dairy industry, "deregulated" to less than half it's previous value.

Let all these industries fall in a heap, put their
workforces on welfare - and wonder why Cairns
and the region is in such a parlous state.

The over-reliance on international tourism (to
the neglect of the domestic tourist market) -
and the decimation of the industries referred to
above is the VERY REASON Cairns is economically
depressed.

The Greens are promising still more job-culling
and denial of economic opportunity: Cape York
as a "Wilderness Zone" - keep the indigenous in
their welfare-funded poverty, deny them any
chance of jobs in mines; Make the entire Coral
Sea a no-take Marine Park, too bad about the
little that's left of the fishing industry or the iconic
game fishing sector; Ditto the Gulf of Carpentaria,
gutt the prawn industry completely - and let's
knock-down the farmers as well....don't allow
them to clear for a paddock or crop, or as much
as chop-down a tree.

Go the Greens. Who cares if we have to import
all our food and fibre - and who cares how many
thousands more jobs will be lost, businesses
bankrupted, and farmers forced to suicide...

Bryan Law, a decent and knowledgeable fellow
and not at all a "serial pest", has swallowed a
bucketful of green-wash - from the political
movement that is promoting a new pseudo-
religion, the worship of 'Planet Earth' - a
religion that demands the sacrificing of humans.

chris forberg

CRAG said...

Bryan, we Salute you and Margaret as extraordinary Community Warriors, but with respect, you would have done better to nominate as an Independent then join any of the green-blue-red gang, who as you probably discovered are played by the same puppet masters.

Regardless the whole system is corrupted, look at what the AEC did to Bluey Morgan, not allowing him to run as :Kevin-John: Morgan

:John: Babet Community Reformation Action Group (CRAG)
www.crag1.webs.com

Bryan Law said...

Chris, old sock, I enjoy a bit of hyperbole as much as the next dude, but you’ve gone too far. How do you possibly hold the Greens responsible for the collapse of the Dairy industry? The deregulation of dairy was accomplished through the neo-classical economics adopted by Labor, Liberal, and National parties in the 80s and 90s. Stupid economics and stupid policies yes, but opposed by the Greens who advocate a different set of socially responsible economic principles.

Likewise the forestry industry self-destructed in the 80s in FNQ because Nationals and industry owners colluded in using timber jobs as a political weapon instead of changing over to plantations and using the federal grant money made available for doing so. Remember that Mill in Ravenshoe that just ripped off the money and went bankrupt leaving local tradies unpaid? Bill O’Chee was a potent force in that mix.

My country friends now make money growing trees and sustainably harvesting high-value forest products (like seeds) which make money AND rehabilitate marginal dairy land. Yuruga nursery is going great. So is Mungalli creek, the bio-dynamic dairy mob.

Renewable energy was a sunrise industry in FNQ in the 90s, and is now well established and successful.

Sustainable Green economics isn’t that much different from conventional economics, but it thinks longer term and includes within it the cost of waste and missed opportunity. Read Amory Lovins and his books Factor 4, and Natural Capital. Factor 4 posits that the transformation to a sustainable economy can only be funded by a four-fold increase in productivity, which can be brought about through better design and use of appropriate technologies.

Hyperbole is cool, but reality is better, mate.

Syd Walker said...

Chris Forberg is far too restrained in his appraisal of the long-standing, evil-scheming, economy-destroying influence of the All-Powerful Green Lobby in this region.

Judith Wright, a well-known Green extremist of her era, once wrote that the Wet Tropics were eyed up by the Japanese woodchip industry - before it eventually headed down to Eden on the NSW coast.

Why didn't Chris blame the Green Lobby for that too?

Green extremists - such as Judith Wright - also prevented deep sea drilling for oil around the Great Barrier Reef.

Both of those outrages cost FNQ hundreds of jobs - and helped pile misery on misfortune for locals, already deprived of the joys of cock fighting, hunting crocodiles and other traditional employment-generating occupations.

It's a well known fact that tourists from all over the world flock to see woodchipped hills and large oil slicks - so the Green Lobby should also be held accountable for the impoversighed state of FNQs tourist industry too. Imagine how much bigger the it would be if only the Greens had been held in check!

Like all successful conspiracies, The Green Lobby has traditionally worked behind the scenes, working through stooges embedded in other political parties, such as Labor or the Liberals, who carry out our demented agenda of imposing survival on a suicidal humankind.

Unfortunately, these sock-puppets have shown themselves to be incompetent. In the near future, Greens shall assume power directly, by gaining a majority of votes in democratic elections.

Chris is rightly fearful of that much-dreaded day, when he'll need a permit to cut watercress from his own sprouter.

KitchenSlut said...

Steven Nowakowski said...
In all of my years of being involved in the FNQ Greens no one else has not had their application for membership rejected. Bryan please let the forum know who else has had their application denied.?

Umm excuse me? Lets take this apart in bits "no one else has not had their applicaton for membership rejected"? Umm this seems to literally imply that all applications have been rejected?

"Bryan please let the forum know who else has had their application denied.?" How would Bryan know if he is not part of the executive assessing applications?

Stephen you would appear to be either illiterate or stupid on any count or is there another explanation?

Tom said...

You can add to that, Chris Forsberg, that the Greens (or their forebears)had a hand in closing the whaling industry too. Albany WA now has to survive on tourism of all things. The world is here to be exploited, and no amount of Green meddling should be allowed to prevent that. Vote for ... ? Well, not Green, eh!

Alison said...

Kitchenslut you pedantic goose, Steven's double negative is clearly a typo and since Bryan has said that others have been excluded then obviously he must know who they are. Otherwise he would be fictionalising and we know that Bryan never does that.

Bryan Law said...

Actually, what I said was:

“ The constitutional rorting, back-biting gossip, and destructive nature of Jon and Denis’s behaviour was very disappointing and hurtful. I am not the only one they’ve done this to.”

I don’t want to go into details publicly about how and who and when, ‘cos it just makes the Greens look bad because of the underhand actions of two individuals. It also invites further abuse of those who are still members. What I will say is that Steven Nowakowski has an admirable record of loyalty to Jon and Denis, and has never quite been aware of the constitutional manipulation.

Steven, you have a talk with your Cairns candidate about the events of 2009, and see if you can develop a positive focus on ethical and transparent behaviour from your colleagues.

Bryan Law said...

Actually, what I said was:

“ The constitutional rorting, back-biting gossip, and destructive nature of Jon and Denis’s behaviour was very disappointing and hurtful. I am not the only one they’ve done this to.”

I don’t want to go into details publicly about how and who and when, ‘cos it just makes the Greens look bad because of the underhand actions of two individuals. It also invites further abuse of those who are still members. What I will say is that Steven Nowakowski has an admirable record of loyalty to Jon and Denis, and has never quite been aware of the constitutional manipulation.

Steven, you have a talk with your Cairns candidate about the events of 2009, and see if you can develop a positive focus on ethical and transparent behaviour from your colleagues.

Grona said...

Can't believe what I just read in the Soapbox. Bryan Law had a "Warren Entsch is a Nazi" campaign in the early 2000s. Now he is prepared to preference him ahead of the ALP. Does that make you a Nazi supporter Bryan?

Sarah Isaacs said...

Anybody who agrees with Greens policies and will comply with the basic rules of conduct is welcome to join FNQ Greens- please prove Bryan wrong by applying to join now! See https://qld.greens.org.au/about-us/join-online.

You will find the FNQ Greens meetings full of diverse people brought together by a passion for protecting the incredible biodiversity of this region, social justice and yes, grassroots democracy.

Indeed I have found there is great potential to participate to a large extent with decision making at all levels.

And I believe that both Jon and Denis would be delighted to see our membership soar- and have more people to help with the heavy workload that they and others carry.

A CAFNEC member said...

I am a long term CAFNEC member and lapsed Greens member. The fact that I am not currently a member of the Greens is more to do with inertia as I still support them. Following these threads reminds of the period some years ago when the CAFNEC committee decided that enough was enough and they didn’t want to have Bryan as a member anymore because he was undermining the organisation.

Bryan made a big song and dance about it and even called a meeting a Cominos House to stage a self-justificatory performance of his innocence and how cliques of Nazis and Stalinists were ganging up against him. People saw through him and he has not been allowed back in since.

It sounds and looks remarkably like what is going on now with the local Greens who don’t want him because of his destructive behaviour. Who can blame them? If you were the third political party in Australia would you want someone like Bryan running around defacing posters and attacking the very people expected to work beside him?

For the record, I am friendly with Jon and Denis although I don’t see them that often. I have nothing but admiration for the work they do and have done over so many years. Jon has been a bulwark of Envirofiesta, putting up all the electrics, and organising the FNQ bike run for many years. Denis has been at the forefront of East Trinity and False Cape campaigns for countless years. I have always found both of them to be collaborative and incredibly giving of their time and knowledge.

It offends me that they are both being repeatedly maligned without substantiation by one man with a grudge and not a skerrick of evidence to suggest altering of the Greens Constitution. Local branches simply do not have the power to do that and I have heard from others that the whole branch meeting rejected Bryan’s membership.

Bryan needs to have a good long hard look at himself and ask why it is that he is not welcomed into local organizations like CAFNEC and the Far North Greens. Unfortunately, he seems genuinely incapable of critical self-analysis. All he can do is criticise others for his own failings.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
chris forsberg said...

Chris Forsberg responds to Bryan Law.

As noted in earlier blogs, I would
never get in to an environmental
debate/dispute with Syd Walker...

A counter-point raised by Bryan Law, however, is wholly IN-CORRECT.
The World Heritage Listing of the
N.Q. rainforests was DIRECTLY
CONSEQUENT of Green lobbying - and
a Federal Labor government (the
Hawk-Keating regime) blatantly
currying favour from the Greens
for the EXPRESS PURPOSE of receiving Green preferences at a
federal election.

Bryan, be assured that the N.Q. timber industry did not "self-
destruct" - it was destroyed by
enviro-extremists. A perfectly
viable, totally sustainable $100
million a year industry, employing
approx 2,000 workers, ground into
dust by the Green agenda.

The former NQ timber industry was
well-managed, felled a minimal number of trees in a totally
sustainable way - and provided
employment for entire communities
(Foxwood employed 300 workers in
the Ingham area alone). The
Mill referred to Ravenshoe was
ripped-off of some $11 million
in compensation, which suspiciously
found it's way to a timber mill in
Kyogle NSW, operated by a relative
of Graeme 'What-Ever-It-Takes'
Richardson, the Labor number-cruncher who created the Greens/
Labor Preference arrangements.

Bill O'Chee's failed role in
"recovering" the missing millions
was curious - but lots of questions
can be asked about Bill O'Chee.

But Bryan, you're on firmer ground
with your rebuttal in relation to
the dairy industry, the throttling
of which is NOT as a consequence of
Green agendas. Point made.

But there IS an in-direct relationship pertaining to national
food security (Australia's capacity
to feed us all). OVERSEAS interests now control the Oz dairy
industry - what was Malanda Milk is
now owned by National Foods of Japan; what was Pauls Milk is now
owned by Parmalat of Italy; another
big player in processed dairyfoods
is Nestles of Switzerland...

These take-overs, which have screwed dairy farmers relentlessly,
are of course part of the globalisation monster. Expect more
foreign multi-national corporations
to swallow-up yet more of Australia's agricultural sector,
as the Green extremsists drive
farmers off the land (in to overcrowded cities) leaving their
industries in financial tatters,
ripe and ready for yet another
foreign take-over.

The TRAGEDY of all this is that the
Greens can't see the damage they're
doing - they can see the trees, they can see the forests - what they CAN'T see are the humans !

Bryan - sometimes you're right -sometimes you're wrong - but your
always good value.

chris forsberg

One of God’s Children said...

I like Bryan Law, and I admire the way he stands up for what he believes, often at a high personal cost. Sometimes he irritates me.

I see in this thread that he provides some historical context, some analysis, and goes on to recommend a voting strategy that puts the Greens first and the ALP last.

In return the diatribes against him provide little in the way of facts, nothing at all about the current ALP failures, and consist almost completely of personal abuse and put-down. For example the “CAFNEC member” says “ I have heard from others that the whole branch meeting rejected Bryan’s membership”.

Really? Who told you that, given your “inertia” means you are no longer a member. Was it Denis or Jon? Did you ask Bryan what happened? Was it a balanced discussion? Or was it, as Bryan says, another example of back-biting anonymous gossip?

I haven’t seen any “destructive” behaviour. A lot of folk enjoyed and approved of his altering Desley Boyle’s signs last year. Bryan is entitled to his point of view.

If policy is ignored while this kind of phoney allegation and personal attack continues the Greens will become every bit as sad as the ALP, and will deservedly lose votes.

Come on Jon Metcalfe and Dennis Walls, respond to the substance of Bryan’s article. Did you ignore and rort your Party’s rules when you refused Bryan and Margaret’s membership? Is it true you did Margaret in just because she was Bryan’s wife? That would be really disgusting! Speak up, or are you too ashamed?

Syd Walker said...

If any member of the Greens wishes to re-raise the issue of Bryan's membership they're free to do so. Bryan is free to apply again at any time.

Opinions of other people about whether or not he should be a member of the Greens Party are really just chatter. No political party is required to accept specific members.

If I applied to join the ALP or the Lib-Nats, and they wouldn't let me in because my past behaviour and current attitude caused widespread disquiet within their current membership, I'd accept that. I might appeal the decision if I really cared - but I wouldn't bellyache on as though a fundamental breach of human rights had occured. If I did, I'd expect to be ridiculed.

As for raking over the entrails of the history of Bryan's exclusion from the Greens (and CAFNEC) YET AGAIN, perhaps someone could start a new blog specifically about that, called 'BryansBlog'.

That way, those of us who weary of the topic could more easily avoid it.

Bryan Law said...

Hey Grona, yes I did campaign against warren Entsch in 2001 (Tampa, Afghanistan). But the principal threat now is Turnour and the ALP (Pacific solution, Afghanistan, widespread bullshit).

A Labor government will simply appeal to the LNP in the Senate tocarry out regressive and exploitative policies. An LNP government will be held in check by a Greens/Labor senate majority.

Chris, thanks for acknowledging my point on the dairy industry. We can keep arguing forestry and related issues. I know nothing about fishing. A common goal for us both is to change the terms of economic debate so we can make policy that takes into account social health.

Syd, Sarah, Steven, and various anonymi, who will the Greens allocate preferences to in Leichhardt?

Name-callers, get a life.

Islam is our True Enemy said...

So-called peace activists have been discredited as the result of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact much of the world and public opinion is moving in the opposite direction. A growing number of people in fact are beginning to favor annihilation of the "dark islamic" religious forces. Some believe that nuclear obliteration of these rogue countries will ultimately be necessary. If that's the case we should bite the bullet and do it now instead of waiting while more Aussie and other western soldiers die.

nocturnal congress said...

yeah "Islam" above. The world is moving in different directions alright..witness the screaming going on about having a few asylum seekers housed on Cape York while the public reaction to expanding Lotus Glen for more rapists and murderers didn't even raise a hiccup.

Margaret Pestorius said...

In answer to Steve Nowakowsky: Thank you for asking about who else had their membership rejected:

My membership was rejected by the FN Greens. I am Bryan's wife. No one spoke specifically about me at the meeting according to what you told me at the time. Therefore, I assume, I was rejected on the basis of being Bryan's wife.

I have a long history of campaigning and activism - both as a green activist and as a peace activist. I have a lot of skills as a community worker, and in my chosen career I am respected as ethical, smart and thoughtful.

I was shocked at the time, and still am that my membership was rejected. At the time I had already started organising on behalf of the Greens to get more members. And I had always worked for the Greens by supporting candidates at elections - at that time for more than 15 years. My husband frequently gave money.

I remember being bitten by a dog leafleting for Jon Metcalf soon after my arrival in Cairns in about 1995 or 96.

I was hurt and I am still somewhat terrified by the vilification that seems to surround me and my family. The majority of people who voted against me did not know me, or know anything about me.

The meeting was held in 2005, 10 months after I submitted an application [Feb 2005], the week before Christmas [21 December 2005] following 10 days notice. 16 members attended, 11 voted against me following a speech by Jon Metcalf against Bryan.

I was unaware the meeting was being held and I was given no chance to tell people about my skills and interests. This is based on information I gathered from you, Steve N and from someone who was on the committee at the time and speaking to other members who were there over the years.

I will also vote Green. I believe in their stated principles and I like Bob Brown and Christine Milne.

I was told in 2009, when I looked into membership again - not to bother. I haven't.

And getting back to Bryan's inital arguement, I no longer donate to the Greens, nor hand out, nor leaflet, nor hold signs. And I tell people about what happened to me because I am still trying to make sense of it. And it is not exactly a private thing as you can see. Many of my friends seem to be influenced by my story.

THank you for asking Steve, or I would not have written on the blog.

Concerned Sista said...

Bob Brown and the Greens should repudiate Jon Metcalf for his sexist and disgusting behaviour if what you say is true Margaret. That kind of discrimination is against the law. I thought the Greens supported women’s rights.

Sarah Isaacs, tell us what you think about Margaret’s comment.

Sarah Isaacs said...

I have known Margaret for nearly ten years- she is one of the first people I met when I came to Cairns.

Margaret is a committed peace activist, an intelligent and caring person and a talented musician.

I think she would be an asset to the Greens and encourage her to reapply to join the party. I think she would be successful this time.

Every political party makes mistakes. But it is important to correct them.

I can't comment on the process of either Bryan or Margaret's membership application being considered as I wasn't a member then.

However I think it's unfair to judge and condemn Jon on this blog.

I've found him, like Margaret, to be a dedicated activist giving large amounts of his time, energy and money to the Greens.

We face huge problems in the world and the majority of people appear to be apathetic politically.

Each person who gets up and contributes is, in my opinion, very valuable.

And I welcome Bryan and Margaret's continuing support of the Greens and their policies.

However I am confused by Bryan's support of Warren Entsch and the LNP - especially after seeing the LNP leaflet and its emphasis on stopping the boat people -and knowing how this is against everything he stands for.

A great book about NW Pakistan is 3 Cups of Tea by mountaineer Greg Mortenson. It's available from the library ( when I take it back..)and a must read for anyone who can't see past the words "illegal immigrant" and "collateral damage".

Greg Mortenson brings alive the magic of Hunza valley and the life of the people there. It helps us realise why some of these people might not have identity papers- and how much many of them have suffered.

So let's work together to push for a humanitarian approach to this problem- whichever political party we support.