Podcast 14 | with Adam Bandt (Patreon)

Dear Patrons

I wasn't planning to make another podcast before the next Honest Government Ad. But at the end of our last podcast, in which I interviewed our former PM Malcolm Turnbull, I said I would give the leader of The Greens a chance to respond to some of the accusations Malcolm made - specifically, the claim that the Greens are responsible for the past decade of climate shitfuckery because they voted down Labor's proposed CPRS legislation in 2009.

This is a claim that's constantly being made - both by Labor and Liberal supporters. So I thought it would be fair to give The Greens the chance to explain their side of this story.

And that's why my guest on the podcast today is the leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt - who promptly accepted my invitation.

There you go, folks - I said we'd be hosting the occasional debate on the podcast!

Jokes aside, I really believe this is a crucial issue we need to understand more clearly, if we are to elect a government at the next federal election that will pass genuine climate legislation. Because the record shows that the only Government that has been able to do so, was a minority government (in 2010-13).

And yet, for the past decade, there have been constant attempts to deligitimise and discredit this government's achievements on climate policy; such as the claim that the 2010-13 Gillard government "did not have a mandate".

The way I see it, a minority government *does* have a mandate - in fact, if anything it has an even stronger mandate because it represents more than one constituency - in the case of the 2020-13 government: Labor voters + Greens voters + Independent voters - rather than just Labor or the Coalition.

I address this point in my conclusion to the podcast; and I hope to explore these kinds of things more deeply as we head towards the 2022 federal election. Because if we don't understand our history, we're likely to keep making the same mistakes and being fed the same bullshit. And we just don't have time for that.

I hope you enjoy this podcast, and I'll catch you all very soon for our next Honest Government Ad!

Giordano xo