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Inside the Greens: The origins and future of the party, the people and the politics by Paddy Manning

by
November 2019, no. 416

Inside the Greens: The origins and future of the party, the people and the politics by Paddy Manning

Black Inc., $34.99 pb, 540 pp, 9781863959520

Inside the Greens: The origins and future of the party, the people and the politics by Paddy Manning

by
November 2019, no. 416

In 2016 John Kaye was dying. Once leader of the Greens in New South Wales, he had a final message for his party. ‘This isn’t and never has been about changing government … This is about changing what people expect from government.’ In our era, dogged by chronic distrust of parties and government, it might have served as a rallying cry for people to transform politics by demanding more of their representatives. But Kaye was a man of the left, and in the context of an impending election, as the Greens descended into vicious factional brawls over preselection for his seat, his words unleashed a storm of controversy over the direction of the party.

This is just one among many eruptions of internecine warfare over the purpose of the Greens chronicled in Paddy Manning’s comprehensive history. The survival of the party since 1992, despite the elaboration of a program, and despite its professed commitment to consensual democratic processes, has depended on its leaders: the iconic Bob Brown, then Christine Milne, and lately Richard Di Natale.

James Walter reviews 'Inside the Greens: The origins and future of the party, the people and the politics' by Paddy Manning

Inside the Greens: The origins and future of the party, the people and the politics

by Paddy Manning

Black Inc., $34.99 pb, 540 pp, 9781863959520

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