Elissa Jenkins – Green Grrl

You can’t believe us …

If you can’t hear us.

Met Peter Garrett today. I was invited to an afternoon tea in my capacity as a member of the Moreton Bay Discovery Centre Steering Committee.

I briefly chatted to him after the event and admitted that I ran for The Greens in Bonner at the last election and then wished him luck for his internal caucusing at Labor National Conference. He didn’t seem too pleased or welcoming of the remark, but I meant it in all sincerity.

I was a bit upset because he wouldn’t shake my hand. Maybe it was because someone was taking a photo of us. Oh well, doesn’t matter. Not my problem. However, I am a constituent like everyone else and if anyone is representing my voice in the lower house in Canberra, he’s probably the closest there is.

Maybe he heard about the release I wrote that described him as ’sad’ and a ‘Labor Party lackie’. I doubt it though. I doubt that made it to Canberra, as much as it would’ve been nice.

Thank god for the 4 Greens senators who TRULY represent my voice. Here’s hoping for at least 6…

Tonight fellow Global Young Green Gordon Douglas and I journeyed out to Nambour to visit the Maroochy Greens branch to share with them our experiences in Kenya at the GYG conference.

It was the first time we’d done the presentation and we’re set to visit many of the branches in South-East Queensland over the next few months – something I’m really looking forward to.

The most fun we had was leaving behind the concept of waving your two hands in the air instead of clapping as a way to show support for what someone’s saying in a meeting/discussion situation.

A big thanks to Maroochy Branch for having us along and for also supporting us before the conference by donating $50 to help fund Global Young Greens from Australia and the South-East Asia region to attend. This was a relatively large and generous sum considering the size of the branch, so it means a lot.

Well I cancelled my Valentine’s Day date and instead went along to a West Brisbane Greens branch fundraiser, with all proceeds going to fund their federal election campaign.

It was a barefoot bowls event held at Toowong Bowls Club. I had never been bowling before so it was HILARIOUS. After not knowing my own strength and having many balls end up in the gutter, I finally got the hang of it and achieved something that resembled aim. Sort of.

Drew Hutton gave a great little speech about Greens history, future and our relationship with the media. We enjoyed some lovely musical entertainment including Greens federal candidate for Ryan, Evan Jones, playing the whistle!

It was nice to meet Greens supporters and local members who came along to show their support for this year’s federal election campaign.

And, yes, I was lying about cancelling my Valentine date. As IF!!!

Greens State Council today.

I think I enjoyed this morning’s fishing at Curramundi Beach better.

Oh it was important though. Got lots of important business done and dusted.

The Queensland Greens commend the union movement�s initiative to organise Rock The Vote which is on at the RNA Showgrounds on Saturday.

The concert, which has been organised to encourage young people to enrol to vote, will also highlight the injustices of Howard government�s ongoing erosion of worker�s rights.

Queensland Greens industrial relations spokesperson, Elissa Jenkins, who is attending Saturday�s event, said music was a great way to engage with young people.

�I�m a big Spiderbait fan and hugely supportive of Australian rock, so I�m looking forward to the day.

�I haven�t seen New Zealand�s Shihad live before and am keen to catch them, particularly now that they�ve changed their name back,� she said.

Elissa, who led an enrol to vote campaign for the Queensland Greens during the 2004 federal election, said it was really important for young people to get in early this time when it comes to enrolling to vote.

�Under John Howard�s new system, the day after he calls the election it will be too late to enrol.

�This is unfair for young people who may be caught off guard by not organising themselves until it�s too late.

�It�s an effective way for Howard to silence the voice of the youth and he knows what he�s doing.

�His values are not in line with the values of young people, so he�d rather not hear from them.

�Environmental and social justice issues are too tough for him to tackle, but young people are keen to see these areas made a priority,� she said.

Ms Jenkins said, to ensure fair workplace conditions are put back on the agenda in Australia, the Senate must be saved from the Coalition in 2007 and a vote for The Greens in the Senate is the only way this can be done.

�Howard knows that a high percentage of young people vote for The Greens and, if young people don�t enrol, they can�t vote for us,� she said.

Media joined us today at the Conference. A variety of resolutions were passed by Conference and announced to the public.

This included a call for state and federal governments to commit $3 billion to buy back 3,500 gigalitres of water allocations in the Murray Darling Basin.

Got lots done today. Busy weekend. A big thanks to my billet Carla and our trusty cab driver Greens MP Mark Parnell. Their positive and welcoming spirit helped us enjoy and appreciate the weekend just that little bit more.

That 3rd bottle of Wynns Coonawarra Shiraz didn’t hurt either.

Today’s conference covered internal party affairs. It is always wonderful at Greens meetings to see and experience consensus decision making and grassroots democracy in full effect. All good stuff.

Tonight South Australian Greens hosted a fundraising dinner. MC for the evening was Sarah Hanson-Young – SA lead Senate candidate – dubbed in the news yesterday as ‘the new Natasha’.

Bob Brown gave a fine speech as did a young highschool activist. Auctions bids were high and constant that night and I dare say SA Greens were grateful for the money which will be used to fund the federal election campaign.

Today Australian Greens convenor Juanita Wheeler welcomed delegates from all state and territories around Australia to The Greens National Conference in Adelaide.

Discussions and workshops featured intelligent exchanging of ideas and lively debate.

The conference is being held at a swanky sports and recreational centre. I liken it to a Beverley Hills Country Club. Very plush surroundings. My orange juice in the morning cost $6. Sure, it was freshly squeezed and delicious but – um – ouch! It did hurt my hip pocket.

Enjoyed Adelaide nightlife including a delicious pasta meal and a lovely bottle of my favourite wine – Wynns Coonawarra Shiraz.

Reclaim The Night March was on tonight. I reckon the women must’ve got a hellava shock when a group of about 20 people suddenly stopped on the side of the road and started clapping them. I guess is may’ve made sense if they spotted Senator Kerry Nettle in our crowd.

Visited Parliament House today. It was an absolutely fabulous experience. Visited the Senate. It was sitting. Senators speaking, other Senators speaking over the top of them, “rubarb rubarb” from the floor. Whispers in the gallery. All four Greens senators present. What important work. It’d be great to be part of that. Inspiring stuff.

Thoroughly enjoyed today. I am utterly proud of our new Immigration and Refugee policy and I look forward to presenting it to the public when the times comes.

Flew to Canberra this morning to be part of the Greens National Policy Conference which is on this weekend. Great day.

The consensus decision making process was incredibly effective and it was wonderful working with Bob, Kerry, Christine plus other councillors, MPs and – of course – members like me from around the country!

Enjoyed a wonderful dinner tonight at the Canberra Club. Great entertainment by the Stiff Gins. Thanks grrls!

Ran into one of Arch Bevis’s policy advisors at the pub beforehand (as you do when you’re in Canberra). Interesting fella.

Can’t really say much more!

Today we had a guest speaker, Professor John Quiggin, who’s an ARC Federation Fellow in Economics and Political Science at the University of Queensland. In fact, he grabbed our attention when he declared during the last federal election the following:

“The Greens economic policy is one of the most coherent and intellectually-defensible documents of its kind ever put forward by an Australian political party”.

Naturally, we weren’t surprised at the sentiment but it was honourable for him to declare it publicly.

Today John touched on the economic benefits of investing in sustainable industries and also daringly discussed some of the taxes incestives that the government gives to business that should be removed. For example, Fringe Benefit Tax on company cars.

I conqur.

A great day. Held the Qld Greens AGM in the afternoon. Stood down as Deputy Convenor and Acting Secretary. Sweet relief!

We enjoyed an amazing lunch and freshly roasted and ground coffee courtesy of an Eritrean catering group. The group of women are refugees – new Australians looking at making a go of it supporting themselves and their families. Absolutely delicious, healthy meal and friendly service. I highly recommend them.

The Eritrean Women and Families Support Network is a group of 25 refugee women with their families from Eritrea in North East Africa. They serve traditional Eritrean and African food and coffee. They use fresh and fat-free products in preparation of the food, and the business is licensed and registered.

Contact Saba Abraham or Saba Mesghun on 0401 222 311 or 3892 7558 or 0405 183 401 or e-mail yirgha26@yahoo.com.au.