Quarterly Essay 8: Groundswell: The Rise Of The Greens

The last federal election saw a massive rise in support for the Greens. They doubled their primary vote and scored over $1.4 million in public funding. Suddenly they are a political force to be reckoned with ... but why? This is a party that started small: nurses, teachers, university students, environmentalists and anti-globalisation activists. How is it that they were able to obtain the support of many people who believe in global capitalism? Were these more politically moderate voters simply distressed at the way the major parties handled the Tampa incident, or is it more complex than this?

Is it possible that the popular image of the Greens as a combination of the so-called elites and dreadlocked, tree-hugging hippies is completely misguided? In a political era where the two major parties increasingly resemble two sides of the same coin, the time is ripe for a new "conviction party", one with a strong philosophy. Could it be the Greens?

In issue 8 of Quarterly Essay, Amanda Lohrey provides a fascinating portrait of the party and its strong grassroots membership.

Amanda Lohrey is the author of Camille's Bread, winner of the ASAL Gold Medal for 1996 and the Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction 1996 (also shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award, Commonwealth Writers' Award, NSW Christina Stead Fiction Prize and Colin Roderick Award). She is co-author of Secrets with Drusilla Modjeska and Robert Dessaix and has contributed to a number of anthologies, including The Best Australian Stories 1999. She lives in Queensland.