Why Labor should savour its Greens

Former investment banker and economist Brad Orgill believes that Australia is suffering from a crisis of confidence. Australia is suffering from crisis of confidence. Globalisation, deregulation, and privatisation have delivered economic growth and enhanced consumption for the past twenty years, but the effects of the 2007-08 financial crisis, rising inequality, job insecurity, and increased corporate power over voters and employees are all eroding our sense of democracy.Meanwhile, with an election looming, the future of progressive politics nationwide is deeply uncertain. The Australian Labor Party and the Greens are splitting the left-of-centre vote -- the major party driven rightwards by an increasingly conservative swinging voter, and the minor party holding firm on vital but controversial issues. This book reviews the Greens' major economic, social, and environmental policies; and argues that progressive voters, and the nation as a whole, deserve an aligned ALP-Greens platform incorporating the best elements of each. With an annual government expenditure of $500 billion at stake -- not to mention the future of our social fabric and our very -- this is a time for visionary thinking, not old divisions and counter-productive rivalries.