Replace Christine with Aboriginal, says Michael Mansell

*Pic: *Pic: Matthew Newton captures the real Christine Milne … Matthew Newton, http://matthewnewton.com.au/Commercial/People/1/ …

GREENS SHOULD REPLACE RETIRING SENATOR CHRISTINE MILNE WITH ABORIGINAL SAYS MICHAEL MANSELL

Aboriginal leader Michael Mansell, has called on the Tasmanian Greens to nominate an Aboriginal to replace retiring Senator Christine Milne.

Mr Mansell said, “The Greens have long held themselves out as a progressive party. Here is a chance to show that is the case. An Aboriginal endorsed by the Aboriginal community and acceptable to the Greens party, should be nominated to replace Ms Milne. There is no compelling reason why an appropriate Aboriginal must be a Greens member: it should be enough if the nominated person can represent the values of the Greens party and the interests of Aboriginal people.

Representative democracy is based on the notion that the makeup of the parliament should reflect the people they govern. There is no Tasmanian Aboriginal in the Federal parliament. There never has been. Unless political parties bite the bullet and lead by example, there probably never will be an Aboriginal representative from Tasmania in the Federal parliament.

Potential nominees Nick McKim and Vanessa Bleyer can lead the way by qualifying their nominations. They should only pursue their nominations if a suitable Aboriginal cannot be found. They should not stand in the way of an Aboriginal nominee.

Through this idea the Greens lose nothing but gain enormously. Their reputation as leading advocates in representative democracy is enhanced and they will gain broad support from the electorate for daring to lead. Aborigines benefit from gaining a political voice at the national level.

There are many Aboriginals perfectly able to fit the bill. Naturally if they are to represent the Greens they must do so and prove to the Greens they can. To quash any fears of self-interest, I am not interested in entering any parliament. There are plenty of other Aborigines who have the skills, work hard and could replace Senator Milne.

There is no reason,” the former Legal Director of Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre added, “why such an idea should be limited to the Greens. The ALP and Liberals should also consider putting an Aboriginal endorsed by the Aboriginal community into their national or State seats.

The Greens should not wait for the other political parties. Now is the time to act. A wonderful opportunity presents itself that could change the face of political representation in Tasmania.”

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• John Francis, in Comments: I was involved in the Green Independents campaign in Tasmania in the 1980s and was fundamentally opposed to these (at least nominal) independent politicians becoming a party. It seemed to me, and it happenend, that as a party, the local members would lose local accountability. That is what happened. Only Kim Booth read the mood of the electorate aright when he refused to jump into bed with Labor, as Nick and Cassie did. Twenty-five or so years down the track, I see that the Greens only marginally represent my interests as a non-major party voter for that entire period of time. I was once called a ‘rusted-on Green’ by a party apparatchik. I was shocked at the audacity of this person who simply took my vote for granted. She did not get how politics works, and has always worked, in this state; it is fundamentally about relationships and the way these relationships are negotiated. Who I vote for is never a foregone conclusion.