Will Richard Di Natale be elected to the Senate?

The Greens polled a record 10.1% of the primary vote in Victoria, but preferences are required to make up the required quota of 14.3%.

Counting of Senate votes is still in progress, and Richard is still very much in the race against the 3rd Liberal Senate candidate Scott Ryan. Scott believes the Howard Government had the right policies on climate change, so let us hope that Richard wins.

Some factors are:

• Postal votes tend to favour the Liberals
  
• Absentee votes ("the bushwalker vote") tend to favour the Greens
• Below the line votes are likely to favour the Greens and Labor

You can help boost Richard's chances by scrutineering - which means checking Senate votes as they are assessed and counted in electorate offices - this is still in progress.

If you can help with scrutineering of senate votes for Kooyong (2 hour blocks during the day), please contact Jenny on 0415 821 554

The address is Level 2, 695 Burke Road Camberwell (just south of the Junction).

You don't have to be an expert. Things to look for include:

• All informal votes are sent to Hawthorn for double checking and data entry
• Votes go into the right piles
• Numbers of votes in a batch that go to various parties

Information on statewide scrutineering is available here.

Please contact me via email or mobile if you need further information.

Kooyong results - Petro wins again and green vote holds well

I would like to thank the many people who helped out during the Kooyong campaign and on election day. Without you, the campaign would not have been so successful.

I would also like to thank the 7,457 people in Kooyong who voted Green.

Jenny Henty at Camberwell High school booth

I offer my congratulations to Petro Georgiou for his win again for the seat of Kooyong. I think Petro's strong stand on upholding the rule of law, human rights and fair treatment of asylum seekers and on the environment have stood him in good stead. In doing so I think Petro has demonstrated the only possible successful direction for the Liberal party.

Petro ran an honest and fair campaign in Kooyong, unlike many other electorates where the Liberals used negative fear tactics and distorted the truth. Petro was rewarded with virtually no swing against him, compared to an average national swing against the Coalition of -4.5%.

Petro Georgiou at Gennozanno College booth

I would also like to congratulate Kevin Rudd and the Labor party for winning the election and running a good campaign. I look forward to some real action on climate change in the very near future, starting with the next round of United Nations international negotiations in Bali in December.

Here are the results as of midday Sunday 25 November.

Kooyong:

• HARVEY, Ken (Labor) 19,248 votes 30.94% +1.93 swing
• GEORGIOU, Petro (Liberal) 33,987 votes 54.63% -0.03 swing
• CAMPBELL, Peter (Greens) 7,188 votes 11.55% -0.99 swing

On these figures, the Greens primary vote dipped by about 1% while Labor's rose by about 2%. It seems that many people may have voted 1 Labor this time because they wanted a change of government, without understanding that they could also achieve this by voting 1 Green 2 Labor. Please note that this is not the final count so these figures may change a little.

Labor candidate Ken Harvey at Camberwell High School booth

National results in the House of Representatives:

• Labor(two party preferred): +6.15% swing (a record win)
  
• Liberals primary votes: 35.96% -4.51 swing
  
• Greens primary votes: 7.64% +0.45 swing
• Nationals primary votes: 5.38% -0.51 swing

The two party preferred voting system in the lower house really does favour the old parties. Even though nearly 8 out of a hundred people voted 1 Green across Australia no Greens were elected to the lower house.

Nationally, over 15 Labor seats were won on Greens preferences, including Deakin and Corangamite in Victoria, so there is a clear mandate for real action on climate change and more funding for public transport, public health and public education.

Senate results in Victoria

We are still hopeful that Richard Di Natale will be elected as the first Greens Senator for Victoria. However, even though Richard received a record 10.1% of the primary vote in Victoria, this is still short of a quota (14.3%). However analysis of preference flows indicates it will be difficult for Richard to be elected, although he is still in with a chance, even though 1 out of 10 people in Victoria voted for him in the senate. It most likely take 2 weeks before the final result is known.

Overall senate results and the balance of power

The Greens achieved two more records in the Senate:

• Senator Bob Brown received 17.7% of the senate vote in Tasmania, a swing of 4.45% and has therefore exceeded a quota on primary votes and is re-elected. Congratulations Bob!
• Kerrie Tucker received 22% of the senate vote in the ACT, a swing of 5.5%. However, a quota of 33.3% is required in the territories (which only have two senators). Kerrie is still in with a chance of securing a senate seat.
  

Other Greens results in the senate are:

• Scott Ludlum is likely to be elected to the senate in WA
• Sarah Hanson-Young is likely to be elected to the senate in South Australia.
• Unfortunately, Senator Kerry Nettle has lost her bid to get relected to the senate in NSW.

On these results, the final outcome would be a total of 37 Coalition senators and 32 Labor senators, with the balance consisting of five Greens, one Family First and one Nick Xenophon (indepedent). If this eventuates, the Greens will thus not hold the balance of power in their own right. The Coalition will be able to stitch together a blocking majority with either Fielding or Xenophon or an absolute majority with them both.

Let us hope that both Richard Di Natale and Kerrie Tucker are elected to ensure the Greens have the balance of power in the senate.

What about climate change?

Prophetic Kev 4PM signing writing in the Hawthorn sky

Alistair McCaskill (Greens candidate for the neighbouring electorate of Chisholm) has provided the following excellent summation of the challenges for getting climate change and other green issues onto the political agenda.

This was clearly Labor's election, and the result is largely a reflection of the electorate's focus on the major parties combined with a mood for change. It's easy to think of additional things we could have done (locally), but it's clear they would have had little, if any effect on the final result. In the seat of Melbourne, with a budget many times larger than ours, a much larger support base, and Adam Bandt as a very capable candidate, the swing to the Greens was only 3.6%. This is a good indication of just how hard it is to change minds.

Even with the efforts of groups such as The Big Switch, GetUp, The Climate Institute, Australian Conservation Foundation, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and numerous local climate action groups, I don't think climate change was the influential issue that many people suggested (and I hoped) it would be.

Links

• The Day After (Poll Bludger)
• First preferences by party (AEC)
  
• Marginals collapse like sandcastles , Tim Colebatch, The Age
• Paul Keating relieved John Howard era is over , Paul Keating, Herald Sun
• Petro bucks the trend James Dowling, Progress Leader
  
  
  

Ready for the greening of Kooyong

I spent today delivering three rounds of the last lot of Greens leaflets for the campaign - better late than never. It has been a good campaign for Kooyong - we have had very encouraging feedback from many of you out there.

As Richard Di Natale said to me after the recent senate debate in Hawthorn - sharing information about Greens policies is easy - as they are the best and most balanced policies compared to the big spending pork barelling of the old parties, and their lack of real action on climate change.

A face in the crowd: Liberal, Labor and union supporters surround Prime Minister John Howard on his morning walk through Cairns. Photo: Andrew Taylor

I would like to thank all who have helped out during the campaign - your efforts are key contributions to the result we will get tomorrow.

I have been reluctant to speculate on our result for Kooyong. Many people still don't know that voting 1 Green and then 2 for another party means that if I don't get elected then their vote transfers at full value to the other party. With a mood for change about, this means that they will be tempted to vote 1 for another party, even though they want to support the Greens. Well, that would be wasted vote.

You get double value when you vote 1 Green, 2 old party.

I will be happy if our primary vote is maintained at around 13%, anything above that would be a bonus, and a huge wake up call to both Labor and the Liberals.

Remember, if there is a swing of 5% away from the Coalition then Kooyong will become a marginal seat. Vote 1 Green then choose your next preference very carefully.

Ken Harvey (Labor), Petro Georgiou (Liberal) and David Collyer (Democrats) have all run good campaigns too - I have enjoyed the opportunity to debate with them and chat with them. I think that the Kooyong campaign has been clean and fair with no dirty tricks, unlike some other seats such as Deakin and Lindsay where the negative campaigning has been quite unpleasant.

So let's see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully by tomorrow night we will know if we have Richard Di Natale as the first Greens senator for Victoria (although it may take longer for the senate result to be known), and whether we have a government that is committed to taking action on climate change.

I am tipping a Labor win by only 2 seats. Howard is an outside chance to retain government, but only by 1 seat.

This could well be the most important election of our lifetimes. Vote carefully. A Green MP for Kooyong would provide three years of dynamic action in Canberra and be be front page news.

IPCC report indicates urgent action on climate change

With a 37 degree day in Melbourne in November and the severe ongoing drought, the scientific predictions of the latest United Nations IPCC report such as intensified water security problems in southern and eastern Australia are well validated.

Projected surface temperature changes for the late 21st century (2090-2099) Source: IPCC Report 4

Finance Minister Nick Minchin stated (ABC radio AM 19/11) that Kevin Rudd "has recently become an economic conservative after a decade of being an economic vandal". Unfortunately, the Howard government has only recently become a "climate change realist" after 11 years of climate change vandalism.

Nick Minchin stated in March this year that he was still skeptical about human activity causing climate change. Mark Vaile said in October (ABC radio PM 29/10) that "there is conflicting scientific evidence on it".

The Howard government has been economic vandals by shutting Australia out of the booming world market for genuine renewable energy technology. Instead they have diverted around $500m more of our money towards subsidising risky research and development for the coal industry, which should be funding these activities on its own.

The latest IPCC report clearly states that the world is now facing a looming "abrupt or irreversible climate catastrophe that will spare no country", but it also says that many available measures combined can avoid the worst catastrophes at an estimated cost of less than 0.12% of the global economy annually until 2050.

These measures include transitioning away from coal to renewable energy and gas-fired power stations, developing hybrid cars, using more efficient electrical appliances and protecting our forests to store more carbon.

The Howard government is still basically stuck in denial about climate change while Labor is committing to little immediate action on reducing our carbon emissions. It seems that our political system is failing to address the urgency of the situation.

Voting for the Greens' strong emission reduction and energy efficiency targets is a good option, but we also need to consider how we can get climate change out of the political arena so that it can properly addressed with a bipartisan approach properly informed by science.

Links

• Environment goes from bad to worse, Marian Wilkinson and Stephanie Peatling, November 19, 2007
• Minchin denies climate change man-made , Wendy Frew Environment Reporter, March 15, 2007
• Denial industry in full cry, John Quiggin, 16 Aug 2007
• Cabinet divided over climate change: Coalition MP, Karen Barlow, ABC radio PM - Monday, 29 October , 2007 18:14:00
• Summary for Policymakers of the Synthesis Report of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report
• IPCC Synthesis Report: Greens respond with comprehensive climate action plan (PDF), The Greens, 19 November 2007
• A signal leaders 'cannot afford to ignore', The Age, Federal Election 2007 News, November 19, 2007
• What turned the Liberal party off climate change action? , Guy Pearse, Friday, 16 November 2007
  

Street stalls around Kooyong

We have been out in the community visiting strip shopping centres such as Balwyn, Glenferrie Road and Camberwell. We hand out the Green Times newspaper which has some excellent articles on the problems with WorkChoices, setting climate targets, how to improve public education, forest conservation and West Papua.

Many people have told me they are greatly concerned about climate change, and that the old parties are not doing enough about it.

I think it is becoming increasingly apparent that if you want real action on climate change, both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, your best option is to vote 1 Green.

Jenny handing out the popular Green Times newspaper in Camberwell

We need real action on climate change

It is disappointing that both Labor and Liberal party election policies on climate change announced so far do not provide any immediate action to reduce our carbon emissions.

The scientific evidence on climate change clearly indicates that immediate action is required, yet the Howard government has only committed to an emission trading scheme in 2012 after a decade of denial. No details of their proposed scheme are available yet. There is considerable risk that it may not result in any emission reductions.

The Howard Government is also promoting nuclear power as part of their solution, which will be too expensive, too late, produce toxic waste and not be renewable.

On the other hand, Labor has committed to 2050 emission reduction targets, but not too any shorter term 2020 targets that are essential for achieving the longer term ones. However, Labor’s 20% renewable energy target by 2020 is a step in the right direction.

Neither the Labor or Liberal party will commit to the essential policy goal of limiting global temperature increase to 2 degrees, yet science tells us even this temperature rise will have widespread deleterious effects on global ecosystems.

I encourage the many people in our community concerned about climate change to attend the Walk Against Warming rally on Sunday 7/11 to show their support for immediate bipartisan action to address climate change.

Setting energy efficiency targets and increasing our utilisation of renewable energy is achievable immediately, but we need the political will to do so.

Vote 1 Green for real action on climate change, rather than a load of hot air

This video succinctly explains why we really must take immediate action.




Peter Campbell
Greens candidate for Kooyong

Australia's climate change response, Guy Pearce

Guy Pearce spoke on 24 October at the Melbourne Town Hall on why the Australian government has failed to take real action to reduce our greenhouse pollution. Find out the interesting details from someone who's been on the inside. I took a video and have put it on YouTube in the following segments (videos are restricted to 10 minutes length).

Guy is on a speaking tour around Australia that has been organised and promoted by Greenpeace. His talk covers information that is included in his recent book High and Dry

Guy's talk gives some very good reasons why we need a change of government in Australia and Greens in the Senate to take real action on climate change.

Part 1: Guy's journey and forgotten Liberal Party history

Part 2: I love a burnt country?

Part 3: Behind Australia's world leading spin

Part 4: Carbon capture and the greenhouse mafia

Part 5: Denial, delusion and the election campaign

Part 6: What can we do?

Part 7: Being climate clever, not climate conned

Young voters: get in early, make sure you enrol to vote

Many young people in Boroondara maybe unaware that recent changes to electoral laws mean that they could lose their right to vote.

The Australian government changed the electoral act in April so that when an election is called, those eligible to vote for the first time will only have less than a day to enroll before the rolls are closed.

Previously, the law allowed between two and three weeks for young people to claim this basic democratic right. It is hard to see what good effect the new provisions are intended to have. However, this law would seem to be a very effective way of reducing the participation of first time voters, of which there may be a thousand or more in Boroondara.

Parents, teachers, youth-workers and others in our community will have a useful role to play in getting this message to the young people of Boroondara.

The most important action now for those turning 18 this year is to enroll to vote right now before an election is called. This will ensure young voters are not locked out of the democratic process.

Post offices have the enrollment forms, or you can get them from the Australian Electoral Commission website. There is also now the requirement for proof of identity and a statutory declaration. The effort is worth it though so you can have your say in the future direction for Australia.

Links

• Enrolling to vote, Australian Electoral Commission

• Use this link to check your voter enrollment status online

Kooyong electorate climate change candidate forum

When: Monday 3rd September 2007

Where: Hawthorn Town Hall, Burwood Road/Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn

Time: 7:30pm - Mon Sep 3 9:30pm

A coalition of climate change action groups across Kooyong is convening this forum to provide an opportunity to hear our House of Representatives candidates speak about what they would do to address climate change.

They are Petro Georgiou (Liberal), Ken Harvey (ALP), Peter Campbell (Greens) and possibly a Family First candidate.

The question convenor will be Michael Gorton, whose background includes being a founder of Greening Australia, a prime mover in United Nations Youth General Assemblies, an Equal Opportunities Commissioner, and chair of the Victorian Aboriginal Reconciliation Commission.

In addition, a speaker from Environment Victoria who will outline the major science findings and the immediate actions we can take. Questions will be taken from the floor. On display in the hall will be some local primary schools posters done by their children who have painted how they see reduction in greenhouse gas production, as well as some stalls with information about local climate change groups.

The Mayor of Boroondara will open this evening focused on assisting our community and our representatives to work together in playing a part to help to save our planet.

Further information/ Press interviews: enquiries@lighterfootprints.org

Carolyn Ingvarson 9836 0925

Forests can slow climate change

This letter was published in The Age and The Heraldsun on July 25, 2007

Once again we are faced with the unedifying spectacle of Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull both playing political football with Australia's forests.

Kevin Rudd has just fully endorsed John Howard's forest policy which supports the destruction of remnant majestic old growth forests in both Tasmania and South East Australia. He has done this to curry favour with the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union in the run up to the federal election.

Deforestation and land clearing accounts for around 10 per cent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, yet Kevin Rudd is doing nothing to stop this, despite the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report which identifies protection of forests as a key global strategy for combating climate change.

Malcolm Turnbull says he recognises the importance of forests as carbon stores, yet he also supports the ongoing destruction of Australia's forests and the resulting export of 4 million tonnes of woodchips from Tasmania and 1 million tonnes from Victoria each year. The Howard government is allocating $200 million to protect forests in South East Asia, but is unwilling to protect Australian forests that store up to 1200 tonnes of carbon per hectare.

Carbon dioxide emissions from logging in Victoria in 2004-2005 were almost 10 million tonnes which is equivalent to emissions resulting from an additional 2.4 million cars onto Victoria’s roads each year.

The solution is remarkably simple. We need to protect all remaining old growth forests to preserve both their intrinsic value and the carbon they store.

Unfortunately, Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull can only see woodchips rather than our trees.

View some Tasmanian forests and hear why local people want them protected.

MEDIA RELEASE: Canadian Green leader says Australian energy and building standards must be improved

July 17, 2007

Ontario Green Party leader Frank de Jong visited a sustainable house in Surrey Hills owned by Peter Campbell, Greens candidate for the federal seat of Kooyong, on Tuesday July 17 to raise awareness about domestic energy standards.

He said Mr Campbell's house, which produces three-quarters of its power requirements, was a fantastic example of how home owners can reduce their emissions, and highlighted that standards in Australia need to be lifted, as they have been in Canada.

“Improved energy and housing standards have been successfully introduced in Canada to reduce energy use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Mr De Jong said.

“We have recently improved our EnerGuide standards for heating and cooling, water heating, gas and electric appliances, lighting and windows.

“Consumers in Canada also use the Energy Star symbol and ratings to buy energy-efficient TVs, VCRs, DVDs, audio equipment and other audio visual products,” Mr De Jong added.

“For the future, we need to set a target of net-zero energy construction as the standard for all renovations and new buildings. This means that buildings could be energy neutral in the long term by a combination of passive solar design, solar panels and hot water systems, and energy efficient appliances such as we see in this Surrey Hills house.”

Mr Campbell stated, “Our Surrey Hills house produces 75 per cent of the power we consume and we are net producers of clean green power over summer.


“If all new homes built in Australia were this efficient and if we implement widespread energy efficiency measures to reduce demand for power, we could avoid building new coal-fired power stations like the one on the drawing board for the Latrobe Valley, which would increase greenhouse gas emissions,” Mr Campbell said.

“While the improvements introduced in 2005 to the five-star energy efficiency requirement for housing in Victoria are a step in the right direction, they clearly don’t go far enough.

“Average energy-related emissions for new dwellings are almost six per cent higher than those of existing dwellings, mainly due to people buying inefficient appliances and lighting, so clearly the five-star building standards need to be further improved” Mr Campbell continued.

“Some large-screen plasma TVs consume more electricity than a fridge while in use, and consumers have no easy way of knowing this when they buy them.

“If we are serious about addressing climate change, we need to consider six-star building standards that include assessment of solar building design and efficiency of appliances, similar to the standards in place in Canada, and we urgently need to expand the energy star rating to cover all electrical goods rather than just whitegoods,” Mr Campbell added.

Frank de Jong is visiting Australia as a guest of Earthsharing Australia.

MEDIA CONTACT: Peter Campbell mobile 0409 417 504 kooyong@greens.org.au

Links

• Frank de Jong, Green Party of Ontario leader
• EnerGuide standards
• Overview of Australian Regulatory Requirements - Labelling and MEPS
• Options to reduce greenhouse emissions from new homes in Victoria through the building approval process. Report to DSE by George Wilkenfeld & Associates (2007)
  5_star energy report May 07 (PDF - 531 Kb)
• Surrey Hills house
  
  
  
  

MEDIA RELEASE: Climate change, public transport and cycling

Date: 27 May 2007

Peter Campbell has been preselected by the Greens to run against Petro Georgiou again for the seat of Kooyong. Campbell has previously stood in Kooyong in both the 2001 and 2004 Federal elections with the Green vote rising dramatically on both occasions.

“I am proud to run again for the Greens in Kooyong at a time that is vitally important for our future. I make a commitment to Kooyong residents that, if elected, I will vote in parliament for real and effective targets for dealing with climate change” Mr Campbell said.

“The science and economic impacts of climate change are now agreed, what we need now is urgent and effective measures to bring down our carbon emissions.” said Mr Campbell.

“Many people in the community are seriously concerned about climate change, the drought and living sustainably. I think these will be among the key issues for the upcoming election this year.” said Mr Campbell.

“It is most unfortunate that the Howard Government has refused to set targets for reducing carbon emissions, has only recently acknowledged climate change is real and is only supporting the coal industry rather than renewable energy.” Mr Campbell said.

“Labor's 2050 carbon emission targets are not much better. We need to introduce a target of reducing Australia’s greenhouse emissions to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020 and to 80% below by 2050.” said Mr Campbell.

Kooyong residents are also concerned about our inadequate public tranport with trains overcrowded and late and trams travelling at 15km due to our roads being choked by cars. I will work to ensure Federal funds are provided for improving our public transport. Giving people the option of reducing their car trips is also climate friendly.” Mr Campbell said.

“Cycling more often is also a great way we can reduce carbon emissions and get healthy, but we have a chronic shortage of funds for cycle trails and routes in Kooyong and across the country. I will address this issue as a priority” Mr Campbell said.

For more information and comment please contact Peter Campbell 0409 417 504

-ends-

Authorised by Peter Campbell, 377 Little Bourke St Melbourne 3000
Phone: 0419 417 504 email: kooyong@greens.org.au
www.greens.org.au

Peter Campbell, Greens candidate for Kooyong

Peter Campbell has lived in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs all his life. He attended Greythorn High School before undertaking his tertiary education at Latrobe University. Peter is married with 1 child and lives in Surrey Hills in an environmentally friendly renovated house that exports electricity to the grid from twenty solar panels and is self sufficient for water.



Peter works as an IT consultant, and enjoys bushwalking, climbing, kitesurfing, skiing and cycling. These outdoor activities have led him to be active on sustainability and conservation for over 20 years, including the protection of native forest and wilderness areas, the promotion of public transport and cycling, addressing climate change and promoting renewable energy. Peter believes that social justice issues such as education, health and employment conditions are intrinsically linked to environmental issues.

Peter’s local activities include:

• Committee member and former chairperson of Friends of South Surrey Park.
• Membership of the Boroondara Bicycle User Group and promotion of the proposed Eastern Rail Trail
• Field Organiser with Bushwalkers Search and Rescue which assists Police with search and rescue activities throughout Victoria.
• Local climate change campaigning and advocacy
• Founder of Greenlivingpedia.org website for sharing information on sustainable living.

If elected to parliament, Peter will work to:

• Take real action on climate change by setting goals for Kooyong to become carbon neutral and introducing a target of reducing Australia’s greenhouse emissions to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020 and to 80% below by 2050.
• Secure Victoria’s water supply and protect endangered animals by stopping logging in water catchments and our ancient forests.
• Create more childcare places in Kooyong.
• Obtain Federal funding for more safe and convenient bicycle paths and routes for local and commuter use.
• Uphold our freedom of speech, which is essential for democracy and human rights.
• Secure Federal funding for improving public transport so that services are fast, reliable, frequent and well-connected.

Contact Peter Campbell via e-mail kooyong@greens.org.au or mobile 0409 417 504.

About Kooyong
Kooyong is an eastern inner metropolitan electorate covering an area of approximately 49 sq km stretching from Kew and Hawthorn in the west to Balwyn and Canterbury in the east, and from Balwyn North in the north to Hawthorn East and Camberwell in the south. Its suburbs include Balwyn, Balwyn North, Canterbury, Hawthorn, Hawthorn East, Kew, Kew East and parts of Camberwell, Glen Iris and Surrey Hills.

For a more detailed map of the district, visit the Australian Electoral Commission's website

Additional information

Greens historical results in Kooyong:

• 2004: 12.54 % - the 11th highest Green vote in Australia
  
• 2001: 10.72 % - the 10th highest Green vote in Australia
  
• 1994: 28.03% by election, Peter Singer

On 28 May The Age reported poll results of a swing to Labor in Victoria running at 10%, which would meant that if an election was held now the Liberals would lose Kooyong which is held by Petro Georgiou on 9.6%.

Sir Robert Menzies held seat for the Liberals from 1934 to 1966.