Rats - and sinking ships !

The dramatic announcement by Christine Milne of the Greens that her party was ending the deal in which they formed a coalition government with Labor was not surprising.   The fact that the ALP's woes are partly caused by their bending to the demands of the Greens seems a case of the boomerang coming full circle.

The Greens are trying to have it both ways.   They intend to keep their promise to defend Labor on supply and no-confidence issues to ensure this government goes it's full term.  It seems obvious that from September 14 they will lose their " hung parliament " pivotal power - and with it the opportunity to push their agenda.   They will then revert to being just another minor party if the polls and pundits are reading the coming election results correctly.

The Greens accuse Labor of " walking away " from the agreement they gave on the mining tax and the preservation of the Tasmanian Tarkine.  In reality, the Greens do not want to be identified too closely with their former partner because the voters may tar them with the same brush that is bringing the entire government into disrepute.

The Greens see an opportunity to become a serious alternative governing party if they play their cards right.   They started life as a group of " tree huggers " which attracted  a strong sympathy vote from " little old ladies " and this coalesced into national prominence over the Franklin dam battle.   This hung parliament issue was like a gift from the Gods.   They actually got their feet under the cabinet table.   If Labor gets the expected shellacking at this election and it's numbers drop in similar manner to the Queensland experience, it is possible the Greens may supplant Labor and become the " Opposition ".

Somehow they need to disguise their agenda and convince the voters that their deeply socialist roots bring no threat to the economy and job prospects of Australia.   Their anti industry stance obviously worries the AWU and it is hard to see how the national economy could prosper if they succeeded in closing down the coal industry and forced the other miners offshore.   The analogy of " Watermelons " seems to have stuck with some people - and perhaps their policies are not entirely what they seem to be.

This election will be " make or break " for the Greens.   What happens in the Senate will have a huge bearing on whether an incoming government is able to govern, or whether politics will degenerate into the mess we are seeing in the United States of America.

A huge responsibility is shifting onto the shoulders of the media to guide the minds of the voters by presenting the options offered by all political parties in a fair and balanced manner.      We may be about to experience a shift in Australian politics which will set the national agenda for the coming decades !