The former Liberal Prime Minister, the late Malcolm Fraser, with respect to party factionalism, said “division is electoral death”.
This was borne out in his party’s defeat of Gough Whitlam.
The declining vote of major parties suggest that the electorate sees parties as incapable of representing their views and concerns in a sufficiently nuanced manner.
Without vigilance on the part of members, internal ideological and ambition-driven power plays can fatally polarise and destroy its membership and supporter base.
The Tasmanian Greens’ declining vote suggests they also have lost touch with its supporters and that no amount of slick opportunist marketing spin will bring them back.
Progressive voters are not easily fooled by spin; they notice the lack of insightful economic and social policy that is grounded in their social reality.
Friends and networks within the progressive movement inform me that just such a divisive, self-serving grab for control of the membership organisation by several parliamentary members is under way, with sycophantic collaborators sworn to secrecy.
Without the reformers on the state executive getting solid membership support the Tasmanian Greens might go the way of the Tasmanian Democrats.
Such an eventuality would be very sad. The UTG will go nowhere without energetic and inspired leadership. The Tasmanian Greens are the only practical vehicle now with the membership depth and capability for transformative progressive policy generation needed to meet the challenges of this century.
But it has no hope if members are too complacent to see off self-serving opportunists.
There is a deficit of leadership like never before in the face of a need for visionary and inspiring policy to prepare all Tasmanians for the challenges ahead.
The Tasmanian Green membership has no choice but to step up and take control again of their party, this means the disaffected rejoining and alienated reliably involving themselves.
The process of review and reform – if done quickly – while temporarily embarrassing will do minimal damage and put the party on the road to long-term recovery … providing the reform successfully embeds an open and respectful balance of power between its member representatives and incumbent parliamentarians of good character.
*Duncan Mills, a resident of Cygnet, is a citizen Social Ecologist of 20 years’ practice, from the University of Western Sydney Social Ecology perspective; which in his experience is one of encouraging critical reflection on the nature of world view, values held, learning styles and effectiveness; of oneself, community, organisations and humanity as a whole. And that fundamental to human flourishing is the willingness and ability to change and adapt to our total environment a compassionate, productive, creative and ethical manner. Prior to becoming a Social Ecologist Duncan, a family man, operated an industrial agriculture business in the North of Tasmania for 30 years. He was active both in politics and community groups; gaining first-hand insights into their and modernity’s strategic dilemmas; raising profound questions prompting this change of focus.
