July 27, 2024 • 9 mins
The Green Party has announced they are pushing back their decision on the future of Darleen Tana as they wrap up their AGM today.
Ricardo Menendez-March joins Tim Beveridge on The Weekend Collective to discuss the outcome from the AGM.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
You're listening to the Weekend collective podcast from News Talks
EDB Politics Central.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So well, the AGM has been held. The Green Party
had the AGM this weekend in christ Church. They've been
discussing policy and where they're headed next. It's been a rough,
rough year for the Greens, with a few sort of
negative headlines dominating the news from time to time, but
they will be, no doubt determined to turn it around.
And with me now is Green MP Riccardo Minid's March.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Good afternoon, Good afternoon, How are you good?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Thanks?
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Hey?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
How was the AGM really good?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I mean it's always it's good to come together with
our members. This is my ninth AGM and it was
no different. We are young and it's really important we
come together to actually talk about both the difficult things
but what we want to speak to the future.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
What are the main takeaways from this AGM?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Mikey takeaways Actually that our members are ready to have
the conversations on how we move forward and that includes
difficult conversations and some of the challenges that you alluded
to at the beginning, but that actually they want us
to remain focused on tackling inequality in the climate crisis,
and that was really clear to me and the positive
reception from members to when Chloe was talking about the
(01:23):
needs to tax wealth to have things like free dental
and homes for all.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Are those new policies or the particularly new policies that
have come out of this weekend or thoughts or initiatively.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
So the key new post is that we are focusing
on renters at the moment, and we're launching an open
letter to call on Christopher luxand to do things like
introduce a cap on how much rents can go by
to ensure that we have our rental warrantfusness. But this
is about setting out how we organize in our communities.
And what Chloe made it really clear is that we
(01:58):
need to actually reach out to communities that the Greens
haven't had connections to before, and that includes communities that
some of us have already been working with, such as
micro workers, people on the Benefit and low income renters.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Because look, the elephant of the room still seems to
be there. That one of the big stories that's still
emerging is that the decision on Darlne Tana has been
pushed down the road to September. The first, just quickly,
I mean, I know that you have a sort of
party collective view on this. What is your view on
the walker jumping legislation.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah, Look, my view, as it is for all of
our quokus, is first of all, that we don't think
Darling Tena should be an MP, and that we want
to be guided by a membership when it comes to
the use of that legislation. So I mean, to the
point at the beginning, it's not it's not that we're
delaying the use of the legislation, is that we have
(02:55):
to set out a process where Darlene has to respond
in twenty one working days to how she has affected proportionality.
But most importantly that we want to have a meeting
that allows for members to give a mandate to our
MPs and how we proceed with the use of that legislation.
And that is what makes the Green Party different from
other parties where they may make decisions at an executive level.
(03:19):
We take our democratic monded for members really really seriously,
and that's the difference between an executive type party and
a grassroots movement.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I guess if that I mean this is not going
to happen, But if the membership said, look, let's leave
it up to Ricardo. What would you choose?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Well, that's not the decision that's going to be in
front of members, right, W's why.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
We would use which would which? Why would you vote?
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Well, we've the caucuses put together a basically a consideration
for the members to give that mandate and the great
thing about that is that it doesn't leave it up
to the MPs it and it shouldn't be because that
is one of the key criticisms of that legislation, that
(04:02):
it could allow for mpce and in a closed room
to the site to pick someone based on, for example,
a difference in principle. We don't think that is how
the legislation should ever be used, and we will be
guided by our members because we do genuinely believe that
what Darlene has done and the series allegations for microt
exploitation are things that should disqualify anyone, no matter their party,
(04:26):
from being a member of Parliament.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Have you or anyone else in the Greens had any
personal conversations with Darlene since the report was released.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Part of the letter that we center Darlene today is
that we have that line that we have tried to
reach out to her multiple times, including over the phone
very recently, and so we're very disappointed, of course that
we haven't been able to have that engagement with her,
and we're left with no option when it comes to
the next steps that we have to take.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Okay, so why so long? Why September the first, because
it is unfortunate for you guys, because you can have
all your agenda and things that you want the public
to focus on. But unfortunately, you know how it works,
Darlene Tanner is going to be casting a shadow over
your party until you can sort it out.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
The legislation requires that we take twenty one working days
for Darlene to reply, so that's completely out of our hands.
But at the same time, that is why we're also
parallel to that, setting up that process with our membership
that will then decide whether we proceed with actually executing
the legislature or otherwise. But the timeframe is actually just
how the legislation work. That is not something that we
(05:42):
decided to set out, and of course the ideal scenario
here would be for Darlene to assign tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Of course, twenty one days is what that's about. The
twentieth of twentieth of August is not nineteenth.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
You've given a twenty one working as twenty one working
working days.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Oh okay, right right, Oh well, so obviously, I mean
you must be feeling frustrated about this in terms of
the work that you really want to be focusing on.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
I think no one Undergreens is happy about the situation
that we're in a relationship to Darlene. What Darlene has
done cuts to the core of core principles. But at
the same time, for example, we've also been doggedly determined
to continue our work. And just this week, for example,
I personally, having worked with people on the benefit, we
broke the news that the government had shifted its child
(06:27):
poverty targets. And those are the kind of issues that
we continue to determined to push for despite the hard
conversations we'd have to have at our AGM.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Okay, just a couple more questions speaking about people who
are are on the benefit. Obviously it's not good for
people to be entrenched for life on the benefit. Do
you guys have ideas in terms of actually reducing getting
people off the benefit?
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Well, I mean I think there's two things here, right,
One of the reasons why a lot of people talk
about how negative it is to be on the benefits
because the benefit is set the poverty line, so of
course it ends up having those negative impacts. But what
we've made it really clear is that the current support
mechanisms to connect people to jobs are not working. There's
no evidence that the works seminars that we have right
(07:10):
now work, and many of those works am in ours
push people into precarious jobs. So we've made it really
clear that we need to connect people to tailored supports
systems that actually meet people's aspirations, not just push people
into any shitty job for the sake of just punching
numbers and in a spreadsheet, well, you've.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Mentioned any shitty job, but who do you think is
doing those shitty jobs?
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Well, like, for example, we shouldn't be pushing caregivers to
jobs that actually will cost them more in childcare. And
that is a reality that many people on the benefit
are put in, where they have to get into jobs
that actually do not fit their realities and the situations
that they're facing. And then the truth is that if
(07:55):
we're pushing say a caregiver into a job that's really,
really far away that's not going to work out for them.
It's going to push them into situation off hardship and stress.
And I think our support systems are simply not set
up way that addequately support people.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
What what would you change to make people in pragmatic sense,
to give people an opportunity to earn their own money.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Well, so, for example, the Ministers of the Development could
better set some standards around the types of employers that
they work with to connect people on the benefit with
with jobs. So, for example, right now, there are literally
no standards about the types of jobs that they could
be in relationships to wages, the security of ours, et cetera.
And we do think that, for example, it should not
(08:35):
just be about any minimum wage job. I think we should.
There are plenty of good jobs out there and the
government has made a situation worse like cutting a bunch
of jobs. So we think that actually the ministry should
set some standards around what decent work looks like. And
what we know is that if somebody enters a job
that is secure and pace well, they're actually far more
likely to stay in that job too.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Okay, he look, I really appreciate your time to stuff
and in just one final question, if you managed to
keep in touch with what's going on in the Olympics
on your phone during the conference maybe, or.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
To be quite frankly, barely because of the I mean,
pol Technics is such a fast pace. But I mean
I did get to see the opening a bit of
this opening ceremony, and I did catch up a bit
on some of the kind of concerning revelations around the
French team four teams as well, which which is concerning,
But unfortunately I haven't kept us.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Speaking particular sport. You're keeping on from middle then, well,
I hope to catch.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Up a bit on some of the kind of swimming competitions.
I used to swim when I was younger, and so
I always keep an eye on that. But I have
to say that the stop has kind of created it
a distance with the Olympics.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Well, you got to get rid of Dylane and you
can focus on things anyway. Hey, thanks for your time, Ricardo,
Thank you so much. That's green MP. Ricardo'm an indis
match for more.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
From the weekend collective. Listen live to news Talks it'd
be weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Weekend collective podcast from News Talks
EDB Politics Central.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So well, the AGM has been held. The Green Party
had the AGM this weekend in christ Church. They've been
discussing policy and where they're headed next. It's been a rough,
rough year for the Greens, with a few sort of
negative headlines dominating the news from time to time, but
they will be, no doubt determined to turn it around.
And with me now is Green MP Riccardo Minid's March.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Good afternoon, Good afternoon, How are you good?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Thanks?
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Hey?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
How was the AGM really good?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I mean it's always it's good to come together with
our members. This is my ninth AGM and it was
no different. We are young and it's really important we
come together to actually talk about both the difficult things
but what we want to speak to the future.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
What are the main takeaways from this AGM?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Mikey takeaways Actually that our members are ready to have
the conversations on how we move forward and that includes
difficult conversations and some of the challenges that you alluded
to at the beginning, but that actually they want us
to remain focused on tackling inequality in the climate crisis,
and that was really clear to me and the positive
reception from members to when Chloe was talking about the
(01:23):
needs to tax wealth to have things like free dental
and homes for all.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Are those new policies or the particularly new policies that
have come out of this weekend or thoughts or initiatively.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
So the key new post is that we are focusing
on renters at the moment, and we're launching an open
letter to call on Christopher luxand to do things like
introduce a cap on how much rents can go by
to ensure that we have our rental warrantfusness. But this
is about setting out how we organize in our communities.
And what Chloe made it really clear is that we
(01:58):
need to actually reach out to communities that the Greens
haven't had connections to before, and that includes communities that
some of us have already been working with, such as
micro workers, people on the Benefit and low income renters.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Because look, the elephant of the room still seems to
be there. That one of the big stories that's still
emerging is that the decision on Darlne Tana has been
pushed down the road to September. The first, just quickly,
I mean, I know that you have a sort of
party collective view on this. What is your view on
the walker jumping legislation.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah, Look, my view, as it is for all of
our quokus, is first of all, that we don't think
Darling Tena should be an MP, and that we want
to be guided by a membership when it comes to
the use of that legislation. So I mean, to the
point at the beginning, it's not it's not that we're
delaying the use of the legislation, is that we have
(02:55):
to set out a process where Darlene has to respond
in twenty one working days to how she has affected proportionality.
But most importantly that we want to have a meeting
that allows for members to give a mandate to our
MPs and how we proceed with the use of that legislation.
And that is what makes the Green Party different from
other parties where they may make decisions at an executive level.
(03:19):
We take our democratic monded for members really really seriously,
and that's the difference between an executive type party and
a grassroots movement.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I guess if that I mean this is not going
to happen, But if the membership said, look, let's leave
it up to Ricardo. What would you choose?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Well, that's not the decision that's going to be in
front of members, right, W's why.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
We would use which would which? Why would you vote?
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Well, we've the caucuses put together a basically a consideration
for the members to give that mandate and the great
thing about that is that it doesn't leave it up
to the MPs it and it shouldn't be because that
is one of the key criticisms of that legislation, that
(04:02):
it could allow for mpce and in a closed room
to the site to pick someone based on, for example,
a difference in principle. We don't think that is how
the legislation should ever be used, and we will be
guided by our members because we do genuinely believe that
what Darlene has done and the series allegations for microt
exploitation are things that should disqualify anyone, no matter their party,
(04:26):
from being a member of Parliament.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Have you or anyone else in the Greens had any
personal conversations with Darlene since the report was released.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Part of the letter that we center Darlene today is
that we have that line that we have tried to
reach out to her multiple times, including over the phone
very recently, and so we're very disappointed, of course that
we haven't been able to have that engagement with her,
and we're left with no option when it comes to
the next steps that we have to take.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Okay, so why so long? Why September the first, because
it is unfortunate for you guys, because you can have
all your agenda and things that you want the public
to focus on. But unfortunately, you know how it works,
Darlene Tanner is going to be casting a shadow over
your party until you can sort it out.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
The legislation requires that we take twenty one working days
for Darlene to reply, so that's completely out of our hands.
But at the same time, that is why we're also
parallel to that, setting up that process with our membership
that will then decide whether we proceed with actually executing
the legislature or otherwise. But the timeframe is actually just
how the legislation work. That is not something that we
(05:42):
decided to set out, and of course the ideal scenario
here would be for Darlene to assign tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Of course, twenty one days is what that's about. The
twentieth of twentieth of August is not nineteenth.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
You've given a twenty one working as twenty one working
working days.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Oh okay, right right, Oh well, so obviously, I mean
you must be feeling frustrated about this in terms of
the work that you really want to be focusing on.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
I think no one Undergreens is happy about the situation
that we're in a relationship to Darlene. What Darlene has
done cuts to the core of core principles. But at
the same time, for example, we've also been doggedly determined
to continue our work. And just this week, for example,
I personally, having worked with people on the benefit, we
broke the news that the government had shifted its child
(06:27):
poverty targets. And those are the kind of issues that
we continue to determined to push for despite the hard
conversations we'd have to have at our AGM.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Okay, just a couple more questions speaking about people who
are are on the benefit. Obviously it's not good for
people to be entrenched for life on the benefit. Do
you guys have ideas in terms of actually reducing getting
people off the benefit?
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Well, I mean I think there's two things here, right,
One of the reasons why a lot of people talk
about how negative it is to be on the benefits
because the benefit is set the poverty line, so of
course it ends up having those negative impacts. But what
we've made it really clear is that the current support
mechanisms to connect people to jobs are not working. There's
no evidence that the works seminars that we have right
(07:10):
now work, and many of those works am in ours
push people into precarious jobs. So we've made it really
clear that we need to connect people to tailored supports
systems that actually meet people's aspirations, not just push people
into any shitty job for the sake of just punching
numbers and in a spreadsheet, well, you've.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Mentioned any shitty job, but who do you think is
doing those shitty jobs?
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Well, like, for example, we shouldn't be pushing caregivers to
jobs that actually will cost them more in childcare. And
that is a reality that many people on the benefit
are put in, where they have to get into jobs
that actually do not fit their realities and the situations
that they're facing. And then the truth is that if
(07:55):
we're pushing say a caregiver into a job that's really,
really far away that's not going to work out for them.
It's going to push them into situation off hardship and stress.
And I think our support systems are simply not set
up way that addequately support people.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
What what would you change to make people in pragmatic sense,
to give people an opportunity to earn their own money.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Well, so, for example, the Ministers of the Development could
better set some standards around the types of employers that
they work with to connect people on the benefit with
with jobs. So, for example, right now, there are literally
no standards about the types of jobs that they could
be in relationships to wages, the security of ours, et cetera.
And we do think that, for example, it should not
(08:35):
just be about any minimum wage job. I think we should.
There are plenty of good jobs out there and the
government has made a situation worse like cutting a bunch
of jobs. So we think that actually the ministry should
set some standards around what decent work looks like. And
what we know is that if somebody enters a job
that is secure and pace well, they're actually far more
likely to stay in that job too.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Okay, he look, I really appreciate your time to stuff
and in just one final question, if you managed to
keep in touch with what's going on in the Olympics
on your phone during the conference maybe, or.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
To be quite frankly, barely because of the I mean,
pol Technics is such a fast pace. But I mean
I did get to see the opening a bit of
this opening ceremony, and I did catch up a bit
on some of the kind of concerning revelations around the
French team four teams as well, which which is concerning,
But unfortunately I haven't kept us.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Speaking particular sport. You're keeping on from middle then, well,
I hope to catch.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Up a bit on some of the kind of swimming competitions.
I used to swim when I was younger, and so
I always keep an eye on that. But I have
to say that the stop has kind of created it
a distance with the Olympics.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Well, you got to get rid of Dylane and you
can focus on things anyway. Hey, thanks for your time, Ricardo,
Thank you so much. That's green MP. Ricardo'm an indis
match for more.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
From the weekend collective. Listen live to news Talks it'd
be weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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