Senate BoP counts for nothing at all for entering Government. The Greens would have to hold BoP in the House before that even became a question. Remember in the Bundestag, the SDP needed the support of the German Greens to form a government.

d

I think people who haven’t actually tried consensus decision-making would be surprised by how flexible the outcomes are. Everyone in the Greens knows *nothing* happens until *everyone* compromises.

Following Paul’s point, I think the Australian Greens are much more likely to founder on internal organisational tensions than on policy strife per se. There’s never been much of an ‘anti-party party’ tendency in the Green parties here, but the confederal structure of the Au Greens creates other tensions and pressures, which are rather different from Green parties in other countries.

d

Whilst not impossible, I think it is unlikely. The development of the Australian Greens and our coming to the threshold of the BOP has been a longer and slower process than the rise of Die Grunen in the 1980s. Therefore, whilst many of the differences which manifested themselves explosively in the Realo/Fundi divide in Die Grunen have also manifested themselves here, they have largely been worked out over time over less momentous issues than the problem of how to deal with the BOP in the national parliament. Also, the lessons (positive and negative) of the Die Grunen experience have not been lost on us.

I agree LO – in the sense than any minor party facing the responsibility of sole BOP must go through that difficult process.

As a member, however, I strongly suspect that anyone thinking this would be *especially* difficult for the Greens – imagining them more “doctrinaire” than other minors – will be proved very wrong, very quickly.

Its got a very broad membership – and mostly people just want something progressive happen on climate change. I suspect people outside will be more shocked at the pragmatic dealing, than those in.

The problem arises because your vision of what is ncessary to ensure the survival of humanity is not shared by the average voter. I’d also note that the Greens platform is full of policies that have nothing to with the survival of humanity and simply reflect your vision of a good society. Nothing wrong with that of course but again you’d have to be a tad blinkered if you thought that vision was widely shared.

So, I stand by my point that you guys will face your fair share of challenges and problems as you decide which principles to give ground on and which not when exercising the balance of power.

On to the next senate.