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The Australian Greens: Between Movement and Electoral Professional Party

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The Australian Greens: Between Movement and Electoral Professional Party The Australian Greens: Between movement and electoral professional party Stewart Jackson A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Government and International Relations, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Sydney, July 2011 Statement of originality This is to certify that to the best of my knowledge, the content of this thesis is my own work. This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or other purposes. I certify that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work and that all the assistance received in preparing this thesis and sources have been acknowledged. Stewart Jackson Abstract Since appearing in the 1970s, Green parties have grown from obscurity to electoral prominence globally. The Australian Greens trace their origins to various social movements in Australia, and could be said to have originally been a movement party. However, as the party has grown and become electorally successful changes have occurred within the structure, organisation and modes of operation. While some of these changes are in response to an increased membership, they also represent a shift towards a new organisational form: the electoral professional party. There is now greater emphasis on the party organisation and electoral success that marks a shift in emphasis from the party in the electorate to the parliamentary party. Have, then, the Greens moved from being a movement party to an electoral professional party? To trace the importance and impact of these changes within the Australian Greens this thesis examines two groups within the party, activists and staff, through survey and interview. The analysis demonstrates that some aspects of movement operations still exist within the party, but views supporting these are more likely to be held by long-term members. In the last ten years there has been a major expansion of the party’s vote and membership. Recently recruited members are more comfortable with changes that move the Greens towards being a professionally organised party that focuses chiefly on electoral success. While staff generally act as interlocutors between the party organization and MPs, they also have divergent positions on party priorities and leadership, with party-based staff advocating far greater membership input into both strategic and leadership discussions. Therefore there is still some ambivalence towards the changes, indicating that the party sits in a unique place in Australian politics somewhere between a movement and electoral professional party. CONTENTS Tables ...................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Figures .................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................................. 10 The Greens, social movements and Australian politics ........................................................................................ 11 Party structure, activists and history .................................................................................................................... 24 Methodology ........................................................................................................................................................ 54 Who are the party organisational activists and staff? .......................................................................................... 72 Participation in the party ...................................................................................................................................... 93 Retreat from movement ..................................................................................................................................... 125 Ideological repositioning within the party .......................................................................................................... 149 Policy making and electoral professional strategies........................................................................................... 165 Party leadership and organisational structure ................................................................................................... 190 Reflections and conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 218 Appendix 1 .......................................................................................................................................................... 231 Appendix 2 .......................................................................................................................................................... 232 Appendix 3 .......................................................................................................................................................... 236 SURVEY OF GREEN PARTY MEMBERS ................................................................................................................. 241 Green Party staff interview questions ................................................................................................................ 252 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................................ 253 TABLES Table 2.1: Party orientations – movement party, Australian Greens and electoral professional party ............... 28 Table 2.2: Sitting Green MPs in Australia (2011) .................................................................................................. 42 Table 3.1: Approximation of the number of Australian Greens ‘party organisational activists’ .......................... 61 Table 3.2: Mail out and response rate .................................................................................................................. 62 Table 3.3: Staff numbers per state, by positions filled, full time position equivalents & employer (2009) ......... 65 Table 3.4: Staff interviewed by employer and interviewee identification lettering ............................................. 67 Table 4.1: Age, gender & education in Green parties .......................................................................................... 75 Table 4.2: Average age of organisational activists, corrected to 2008 ................................................................. 77 Table 4.3: Age, gender, education of organisational activists compared to voters and general population ....... 78 Table 4.4: Staff – employment prior to current position ...................................................................................... 80 Table 4.5: Organisational activists and staff - year of joining ............................................................................... 82 Table 4.6: Organisational activists - year joined the Greens vs Male or female .................................................. 84 Table 4.7: Average party membership by state & territory for groups of years .................................................. 84 Table 4.8: Organisational activists - membership of other parties ....................................................................... 87 Table 4.9: Organisational activists (n=413) and staff (n=19) - locality lived in compared to branches and general population ............................................................................................................................................................ 89 Table 4.10: Organisational activists (n=412) and staff (n=19) - language other than English spoken at home ... 90 Table 5.1: Organisational activists - reasons for joining the Australian Greens ................................................... 96 Table 5.2: Importance of reasons for joining Australia 2008 (organisational activists) vs Scotland 2002 (members) ............................................................................................................................................................ 97 Table 5.3: Staff (n=19) - reason for joining the Australian Greens (single response) ........................................... 98 Table 5.4: Organisational activists - help realization of political aims vs year joined ......................................... 100 Table 5.5: Organisational activists - become politically active vs year joined .................................................... 100 Table 5.6: Organisational activists (n=414) and staff (n=19) - current party activity level ................................. 102 Table 5.7: Organisational activists (n=414) and staff (n=19) - attendance at local meetings ............................ 103 Table 5.8: Organisational activists - current party activities engagement and level .......................................... 105 Table 5.9: Organisational activists - other political activity and level ................................................................ 107 Table 5.10: Organisational activists - worked voluntarily in community organisations vs male or female ....... 108 Table 5.11: Crosstabulation – Organisational activists - boycotted certain products vs male or female........... 109 Table 5.12: Organisational activists - participated
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