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| Bob Brown endorses action against Lee Rhiannon as Greens turmoil deepens | Bob Brown endorses action against Lee Rhiannon as Greens turmoil deepens |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Greens party elder Bob Brown has described a formal complaint against Lee Rhiannon, signed by her nine party colleagues, as unprecedented but “warranted”. | |
| Brown, who was the first national leader of the Australian Greens, confirmed the matter could lead to Rhiannon’s expulsion from the party room and even the party itself. The complaint followed her involvement in producing a leaflet urging people to lobby to block the Coalition’s Gonski 2.0 school funding package before the party had settled a position on it. | |
| Brown was closely involved in writing the rules governing the party room and said the party organisation also had the option of removing her membership. | Brown was closely involved in writing the rules governing the party room and said the party organisation also had the option of removing her membership. |
| “[The complaint] is unprecedented but warranted,” Brown told Guardian Australia. “You can’t have a party leader and spokesman working hard to get a good outcome while another person in the party room with shadow ministry functions is out undermining. | “[The complaint] is unprecedented but warranted,” Brown told Guardian Australia. “You can’t have a party leader and spokesman working hard to get a good outcome while another person in the party room with shadow ministry functions is out undermining. |
| Lee is a specialist in party-room rancour | |
| “I wouldn’t be advising on what the party room should do. They are closer to the issue, but we put this rule in as a reasonable backstop to very bad behaviour. | “I wouldn’t be advising on what the party room should do. They are closer to the issue, but we put this rule in as a reasonable backstop to very bad behaviour. |
| “It is really up to party, but I am pleased there is an option there for dealing with Lee.” | “It is really up to party, but I am pleased there is an option there for dealing with Lee.” |
| Brown has long opposed Rhiannon’s Senate candidacy. He accused her of not hitting a chord with voters at the last election and introducing factionalism into the NSW Greens. | Brown has long opposed Rhiannon’s Senate candidacy. He accused her of not hitting a chord with voters at the last election and introducing factionalism into the NSW Greens. |
| Rhiannon’s party-room colleagues took action against her after a bruising outcome to the school funding debate. The government had only two pathways to pass the bill, via the Greens or the crossbench, after Labor blocked the bill. | |
| The Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, and the education spokeswoman, Sarah Hanson-Young, negotiated for $5bn in extra funding, a mechanism to ensure more money came from the states and an independent funding body but at the last minute the Coalition won the required votes from the crossbench. | |
| Rhiannon’s colleagues allege she was working against their efforts to improve the bill, in tandem with the Australian Education Union, which had threatened to campaign against the Greens if they supported the bill. | Rhiannon’s colleagues allege she was working against their efforts to improve the bill, in tandem with the Australian Education Union, which had threatened to campaign against the Greens if they supported the bill. |
| Rhiannon has said she had always been faithful to Greens policy and process but opposed the Coalition’s schools package because it favoured private schools. | Rhiannon has said she had always been faithful to Greens policy and process but opposed the Coalition’s schools package because it favoured private schools. |
| She described the leaflets as a good local initiative that highlighted the negative impact the Turnbull funding plan on local public schools, and said nothing she had done had affected the negotiations. | |
| “Producing such materials are a regular feature of Greens campaigns,” Rhiannon said. “These leaflets urged people to lobby all senators to oppose the bill. I was proud to stand with branches of the Australian Education Union, particularly as the Turnbull school funding plan favoured private schools.” | |
| If Rhiannon was expelled from the party room the Greens would lose one of their 10 votes, although she would probably continue to vote with her colleagues on most issues. | If Rhiannon was expelled from the party room the Greens would lose one of their 10 votes, although she would probably continue to vote with her colleagues on most issues. |
| Brown said under the rules members could expel a fellow MP from the party room if he or she was behaving in a way that was inimical to the party. It would then be up to party machinery whether to take membership away as well. | |
| “The Greens is a voluntary party and they don’t want to be involved in rancour, but Lee is a specialist in party-room rancour,” Brown said. | |
| “This is going to keep happening. NSW Greens voters will have had enough of this. The education shadow [Hanson-Young] got $5bn out of a conservative government for schools. | “This is going to keep happening. NSW Greens voters will have had enough of this. The education shadow [Hanson-Young] got $5bn out of a conservative government for schools. |
| “I can’t fathom it, ultimately it comes down to a more doctrinaire position which overcomes political good sense. As an individual, you have a right to speak out, but you can’t do it secretly behind the backs of your colleagues.” | “I can’t fathom it, ultimately it comes down to a more doctrinaire position which overcomes political good sense. As an individual, you have a right to speak out, but you can’t do it secretly behind the backs of your colleagues.” |
| As the parliament begins a long parliamentary recess until 8 August, the Greens party room will hold a special meeting to discuss the issue after the signed complaint to the National Council was returned to the party room to deal with as they saw fit. | As the parliament begins a long parliamentary recess until 8 August, the Greens party room will hold a special meeting to discuss the issue after the signed complaint to the National Council was returned to the party room to deal with as they saw fit. |
| Rhiannon faces a preselection battle within months to determine whether she will serve six more years as a NSW Greens senator. | |
| “If she was an honourable MP, she would remove herself from Greens and allow a new Greens member to fill her space,” Brown said. | “If she was an honourable MP, she would remove herself from Greens and allow a new Greens member to fill her space,” Brown said. |
| “It is up to the NSW Greens whether they re-endorse her, but in the last two elections thousands of people ceased to vote Greens. If she wins preselection, she is very likely to lose election.” | “It is up to the NSW Greens whether they re-endorse her, but in the last two elections thousands of people ceased to vote Greens. If she wins preselection, she is very likely to lose election.” |