“In disempowering themselves, the ACT Greens have failed to support the mature approach of Shane Rattenbury, and have created opportunities for current and future independents,” writes political columnist MICHAEL MOORE.

Ideologues in political parties drive for the perfect. This is often why they have joined a political party.

Aspirational goals have a place to set an agenda for a better world. However, they can become impossible commitments. 

Despite best intentions, political reality is that our parliamentarians and their supporters most often are put in a position where they need to make the “least-worst” decision.

Once again, the Greens in the ACT have made themselves less relevant as they look for the “perfect”. While Australian Greens founder Bob Brown was urging them to show political maturity, the Greens party put the kibosh on any meaningful discussion with the Liberals. 

In disempowering themselves, the ACT Greens have failed to support the mature approach of Shane Rattenbury, and have created opportunities for current and future independents.

In 2009 the Federal Greens’ vote against Labor’s emission trading scheme effectively shelving any seriously effective carbon pollution reduction scheme for years. The Greens argued that the scheme did not go far enough. With the wisdom of hindsight, the damage caused to efforts on climate change in Australia has been substantial.

On the flip side, the Democrats under Meg Lees found compromise with John Howard allowing the introduction of the GST. The exemptions around basics such as fundamental food products allowed the implementation of the broader policy while protecting life’s basics. Howard did not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.

At the extreme, Bob Hawke’s 1987 campaign commitment “by 1990, no Australian child will be living in poverty” was always aspirational and impossible to deliver. Even by 2030 there will be many children living in poverty. No compromise meant Peter Dutton’s campaign on the very conservative side of politics devastated the Liberal Party and effectively handed many moderate seats to the “teal” independents.

The MLAs in the ACT are facing at least three more years of Labor in power. At what point are both the Liberals and the Greens going to step beyond seeking policy perfection?

Over the holiday period discussions between the leaders of the Greens and the Liberals made some progress towards closer co-operation. However, it seems some members of each party considered the discussions completely out of order. This is not surprising. 

The diehard supporters both on the left and right of politics have joined their respective political parties with a clear agenda. The agenda is to differentiate themselves from the other side of politics and seek a solution that they believe will deliver a better government.

In this case a “better government” is one consistent with their own ideology. Except that staying out of government means not being able to deliver at all.

Managing change in politics is difficult. Seven hundred years ago diplomat, philosopher and political commentator Niccolò Machiavelli argued in his treatise, The Prince: “It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things”.

Change was difficult for the Medici Popes. It remains difficult for the leaders of political parties in the ACT. Specific interests pull the strings of all political parties. These are not only financial, but include ideology, personalities and personal agendas.

Ironically, since self-government in 1989, the ACT Legislative Assembly has proven it is capable of innovation. MLAs have understood the challenge of perfection and the value of the good. In the last few years Michael Pettersson has ably taken the Assembly through the next steps in drug law reform.

The original steps were taken in the early 1990s. However, at the time the current laws on illicit drugs were a step too far. Rather than the “perfect”, compromises were reached. For some it went too far. For others not far enough.

Similarly, with legalisation on prostitution. Thanks to compromise and not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, effective legislation has remained in place for more than 30 years.

There are three years to go for this eleventh ACT Legislative Assembly. If even a week is a long time in politics, the years ahead provide an opportunity for the Greens and Liberals to reconsider the best interests of the ACT. In doing so, they can improve their electoral chances by accepting the “least-worst” and becoming more relevant.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006.