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And rarely do the twain meet … Labor and the Greens …
Michael Field, was the Premier of Tasmania between 1989 and 1992. He was the leader of the Tasmanian Labor Party from 1988 until his retirement in 1996.
Field is best known for operating in minority government with the support of the Independents, Tasmania’s nascent Green party, with an agreement known as the Labor–Green Accord. ( Wikipedia HERE ).
Labor has pledged never to enter into minority government with the Greens after that accord 25 years ago.
The Reason: They both say they can’t trust each another.
I spoke to Michael Field this week about those incredible days. He says someone has got to stand up for the little guy and (then) Tasmania’s biggest industry of forestry; bigger 25 years ago than tourism.
So, let’s re-examine those incredible days …
Field grew up on the North-West Coast of Tasmania, he attended Devonport High School where he was a sergeant in the army cadets and graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science in 1971, where he resided at St. John Fisher College. He was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly for Braddon in 1976. He was at various times a cabinet minister, premier and leader of the opposition over twenty years.
At the 1989 state election, Labor suffered a one-seat swing. However, the incumbent Liberal government under Robin Gray lost two seats, and in the process lost its majority. The balance of power rested with the Greens, who won five seats. Field then reached an agreement with Independent leader Bob Brown, giving him enough support to form government by one seat.
Gray had initially intended to form a minority government. When the accord was signed on 29 May, Gray asked the Governor, Sir Phillip Bennett, for new elections. However, Bennett refused, concluding that Gray no longer had enough support to govern and had therefore lost the right to seek a dissolution. The Greens had also privately assured him that they would support a Labor minority government. When the Liberals’ candidate for Speaker was defeated, Gray resigned rather than face certain defeat in the House. Bennett then duly commissioned Field as premier.
Field’s government presided over painful fiscal reforms that, while unpopular at the time, helped rehabilitate the state’s finances in the long run. The Greens terminated the accord in 1990, but Field was able to survive a confidence vote in 1991. However, at the 1992 state election, Labor was severely punished not only for its fiscal belt-tightening, but for dealing with the Greens. Its popular vote plummeted to 28.9 percent, while the Liberals won a solid majority. Despite this severe defeat, Field was not blamed for the debacle and stayed on as leader.
Field stayed on through a federal intervention in the state Labor Party, and led Labor into the 1996 state election. Field promised that he would only govern in majority. He also promised that if the Liberals were reduced to a minority government, he would not bring it down in its first year. At the election, Labor took three seats. While this cost the Liberals their majority, it was short of what it needed to make Field premier once again. Although Labor and the Greens had enough seats between them to form government, Field kept his word and did not attempt to topple the Liberals. Groom had also promised only to govern in majority, and resigned as premier in favour of Tony Rundle, who reached a deal with the Greens.
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Field’s last election as ALP leader in 1996 saw the entrance to Parliament of popular union leader Jim Bacon who was touted as a potential ALP leader. When Field retired in 1997, Bacon did not hesitate in succeeding him as leader and Bacon became Premier when he led the party back to power a year later in 1998.
In Field’s mind the Greens sucked the Libs into opposing resource security legislation.
“The greens moved a motion of no-confidence in the Labor Government because of resource security legislation. The motion was worded in such a way that when the resource security legislation was defeated the motion of no-confidence had no effect.
“The Liberals believed it did have an effect of no-confidence and supported it on that basis. The subsequent humiliation was the final straw for the Libs and Gray was deposed relatively soon after.
“After all the negotiations trying to resolve the conflict over land use … Labor decided there had to be a security for both conservation and for the largest industry at that time in the state. And the legislation was put forward as an expression of that commitment.
“When the bill re-emerged and the Libs committed to supporting it … then Labor had to pursue that in order to be dealing with both groups in a consistent way.”
And Christine Milne, who I also spoke to, says: “With another state election looming and Labor’s ridiculous return to ‘majority Govt or nothing’ which was Michael Field/Jim Bacon/Paul Lennon mantra, it is worth revisiting why the mantra was developed in the first place … and the consequences for Tasmanian democracy.
This is her version of how it all evolved …
“The mantra is based on a false premise and only a few people in Labor seem to know that.
“With another state election looming and Labor’s ridiculous return to ‘majority Govt or nothing’ which was Michael Field/Jim Bacon/Paul Lennon mantra, it is worth revisiting why the mantra was developed in the first place and the consequences for Tasmanian democracy.
“The mantra is based on a false premise and only a few people in Labor seem to know that.
“Many Labor Party people think the Greens brought down the Field Labor Govt in 1991 by moving a successful No Confidence motion in the Field Govt because of resource security legislation. Gray supported the motion but protected Field from subsequent No Confidence motions from Greens until Christmas 1991 so as to get Resource Security through the Parlt. The early 1992 election, the result.
“As a result Labor stalwarts have argued that Labor can never work with Greens again and it was majority government or nothing.
“It was reason Field refused to enter discussions to form government in 1996 when the Libs lost majority. The only time I know of in Australian political history when a party which could have governed, refused to do so. Field insisted on being in opposition rather than government.
“Then Labor realised that as long as the Greens existed they would never again be in government as they were unlikely to achieve a majority in a 35 member parliament. So they either had to change tack or get rid of the Greens. They chose the latter.
“That was the catalyst for Bacon supporting Rundle in reducing the numbers and designing a model to get rid of the Greens.
“Following this abuse of democracy Bacon achieved a majority government and Labor ruled for the next 16 years. The acrimony between Labor and the Greens had only a brief respite during the Bartlett years when Nick McKim and Cassy O’Connor were Ministers etc …
What happened …
“The Greens warned Michael Field that if he brought in Resource Security Legislation we would move No Confidence.
“He decided to test our resolve and introduced the legislation.
“We drew up a No Confidence motion on expert legal advice.
“It read ‘No Confidence in Government because of Resource Security Legislation’.
“It was introduced.
“Between introduction and moving it discussions between Bob Brown and Michael Field were held.
“Brown put to Field that it was contingent on resource security legislation and that if Govt dropped that legislation, then confidence would be restored.
“Field agreed to drop the legislation and not reintroduce it in the life of the government.
“Plan that the Greens devised was for Greens to move it, Gray would support it and it would look like the government had fallen. Then Field would go to Government House, tell the Governor that everything was okay because he was going back to parliament to announce that Resource security legislation was dead and that he would use the next question as an expression of confidence in government. It was then moved that the House do now adjourn and it was passed. Confidence was restored. Libs were humiliated having been part of destroying their timber industry mates. The Labor Government was back on track.
“For the plan to work, very few Labor Government members could know as timber industry supporters in Labor like Llewellyn and Lennon would never have gone along with it, nor would Bacon at the TTLC.
“As far as I know only Field, Patmore, Holgate and Polley as Speaker knew.
“When the no-confidence vote was taken the searing looks from Labor MPs like Fran Bladel and Judy Jackson confirmed that they thought the government had really fallen.
“After the day ended with Labor back in government, Field held a party in his office and they all had a jolly good time except Llewellyn who went immediately to loggers to work out a counter-attack.
“Over the weekend the media and loggers went berserk and by Saturday afternoon it was obvious Field was going to cave in to pressure to restore resource security legislation. I rang him and warned him not to do it but by Tuesday when Parliament resumed he had completely capitulated to the loggers and put himself under Gray’s protection to get it through.
“The question is did Michael Field ever tell his Caucus that he had done a deal with the Greens?
“My assumption is that he never told them or the Tasmanian Trades and Labour Council and to this day many of them still think the Greens brought down a Labor government. Holgate died, Patmore and Polley both hate the Greens and so the secret is safe.
“By telling them Field would have been admitting that the Greens didn’t intend to bring the government down, that he didn’t trust all of them at the time and that he was prepared to dump the logging industry in order to keep government.
“By keeping mum, he could pretend that he stood by the loggers up until the no-confidence motion was successful and then he had to think quickly and decided on a clever and ingenious plan between the time the motion was moved and parliament resuming later that day to repudiate the logging legislation to regain confidence.
“So very masterful of him. But having thought about it over the weekend etc he decided to stand by the loggers and go to an election once the legislation was passed. He would then say he could never again govern with the Greens because they moved no-confidence in a Labor Government setting in place a quarter of a century of bitterness and rancour.
“So if we are to end this stupid mantra of Majority or Nothing, Field needs to answer that fundamental question.”