Over the last month or so, we've seen plenty of spruikers sitting by the roadside, accompanied by sandwich boards advertising either Ronan Lee or the LNP candidate for the state seat of Indooroopilly. Despite Anna Bligh's denials that she is going to call an early election, it looks like the other political parties are all calling her a liar.
Anyway, as someone who intends to vote Green- and who unexpectedly wound up with a Green MP as the sitting MP in our electorate- I've been very interested to see that the signs Ronan Lee has been using to advertise in fact make no mention whatsoever of the Queensland Greens, or any Greens for that matter. The signs are coloured bright red and white, and contain no indication as to what party Mr Lee is sitting for. When I saw these signs soon after his defection, I assumed their lack of party insignia was due to not yet having had signs printed promoting him as the local Green MP. Almost 3 months on, I'm not sure that excuse would hold water. At least his placeholder website, though woefully incomplete, appears to portray Ronan Lee's party affiliations accurately.
Apart from his careful avoidance of any of the social issues upon which the Greens are renowned for their strong stance- Lee has been a one-note 'green' Green- I find it curious, although not entirely surprising, that he appears to be essentially running as an independent, despite possibly having an even higher profile now by virtue of his defection to the Greens from Anna Bligh's Labor party. Why?
The reason that first springs to mind is the fact that aside from the hordes of students who inhabit this electorate, there live thousands of 'riche' whose political leanings more naturally align with Howard-era Liberal philosophies. Some of them must have voted for Lee during the last two state elections for him to be elected. It wouldn't be surprising if polling showed that members of this particular group of voters were turned off by his visible association with the Greens and that his less-than-low-key association with the party in his advertising were an attempt to retain those votes.
That's pretty much the only plausible explanation I can come up with. If this is really the case, then, as a Green voter and more of an idealist than a pragmatist, I find it dishonest. As dishonest as Lee's failure to address any issues that don't concern the environment- as if the same issues of social equality and reproductive rights that affect the rest of Australia don't exist here- given the fact he has failed to reconcile his conservative Catholic background with the principles and policies espoused by the Greens. The Queensland Greens might be happy to play this game and retain a rare sitting MP in the state parliament, but if voters in the Indooroopilly electorate are voting for Ronan Lee and not the Queensland Greens' policies, then what's the point of having him there? And why on earth wouldn't he run as an independent if he feels like the 'Green' label is such a taint?
I'd be much happier voting for an honest loser than a dishonest Green, and indeed I will if it turns out there's someone running as an independent whose policies align with my values to a greater extent than do Ronan Lee's. This was the highlight of the Queensland Greens' year?
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