The Greens have a bottom-up structure. Locals express their concerns, and policy is derived through a democratic process. In this way the aspirations of local communities can be more readily achieved and fewer communities are disadvantaged. Elected state and federal Greens then provide assistance in making those aspirations come to fruition.
For example, Greens MLC David Shoebridge, who recently visited to assess Lot 490 at Kingscliff, was one of the Greens who led the campaign against Part 3A of the Environmental Protection and Assessment Act. This removed planning decision-making from local communities and pushed unwanted developments on voiceless communities, which forced the government to promise to repeal Part 3A and reform the broken planning system. Currently a comprehensive review of the NSW planning system is under way.
Similarly after his trip to American coal seam gas fields, Greens MLC Jeremy Buckingham recently visited Tweed to assess and advise on the issue here.
Soon-to-visit Greens MLC John Kaye has taught and researched electrical engineering at the University of NSW, specialising in sustainable energy and greenhouse issues. He has a PhD from the University of California Berkeley and has been a strong advocate for renewable energy and energy efficiency.
This expertise and more is readily available for us to draw upon should we choose to vote Green in the coming Council election.
David Norris
POTTSVILLE
