In latest flashpoint of antagonism towards party’s hard left, four MPs claim internal democratic body is incompatible with Greens’ constitutions

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Four New South Wales Greens parliamentarians are refusing to submit to a powerful internal committee representing members, arguing it has become a “politburo” that can override the party room.

In a letter sent to party convenors, the quartet of Jeremy Buckingham, Justin Field, Dawn Walker and Tamara Smith announced they would boycott the parliamentary liaison committee (PLC) because they claimed it was incompatible with the Australian and NSW Greens constitutions.

The Australian Greens and NSW Young Greens have rejected their view on the democratic body which has become the latest flashpoint of antagonism between the Buckingham-aligned grouping and the party’s hard left.

Buckingham and Field have also raised concerns about the election of Holly Brooke, a member of the anti-capitalist Left Renewal faction, to the position of PLC co-convenor, which grants voting rights in the party room.

Left Renewal: since when has taxing the rich and saving the planet been so controversial? Read more

The PLC provides a mechanism for Greens members to set the direction of the party and can even bind the parliamentarians when the party room is split and cannot reach consensus, although that power has rarely been used.

The PLC consists of six members elected by the state delegates council every year, the eight state Greens MPs and federal senator for NSW, Lee Rhiannon.

In response to calls to give MPs a vote on the PLC, the state delegates council resolved in April to do so but to weight the elected members’ votes to give them 2.66 votes each.

On 8 May the four renegade MPs wrote to the convenors of the Australian and NSW Greens, local Greens groups and the PLC complaining that the fact their votes count for less infringes the principle of “one vote, one value”. They said it breached both the Greens NSW and Australian Greens constitution and therefore “has no effect”.

The MPs argued the PLC “should have remained a liaison committee as was originally intended”. “Others have continually pushed for it to be a voting body that can bind MPs, in effect creating an alternate party room.”

“The MPs who are signatories to this letter indicate that we will not participate in the NSW state PLC until the constitutional questions surrounding this decision are considered by the Australian Greens national council and the Greens NSW delegates council.”

The four MPs also wrote to party members warning that “giving the PLC voting powers to direct MPs effectively creates a party executive, or ‘politburo’, which is open to being manipulated by factions”.

On 11 May, the Australian Greens co-convenor, Giz Watson, responded that the office bearers had formed a “preliminary view that the rule change to the NSW Parliamentary Liaison Committee does not breach the [Australian Greens] constitution” and urging the NSW Greens to resolve the matter.

The NSW Young Greens wrote to the four renegade MPs reiterating “in the strongest terms” their support for the PLC and its elected co-convenors.

The NSW Young Greens approved the system of weighted votes, saying the state delegates council had “decided through legitimate decision-making processes to limit the influence of MPs on the PLC after their inclusion as voting members”.

“Weighted votes are neither unconstitutional nor without precedent in the party – most notably the national council has weighted votes for the delegates of populous states.”

The NSW Young Greens said the MPs “should continue to be accountable to and take direction from the party” and that “regardless of any MP’s personal opinion of the PLC or the legitimacy of SDC decisions, it is inappropriate for MPs to shirk their constitutional duties to the party”.

The boycott also sparked a flurry of social media posts, seen by Guardian Australia, from rank-and-file members concerned that the four MPs are sidelining a key accountability mechanism. The four MPs rejected that view, arguing the PLC “doesn’t function effectively as an accountability mechanism”.

They accused the body of “[spending] most of its time over the past few years talking about its own powers to vote and direct MPs”.

In addition to the PLC’s power to resolve deadlocks, the two co-convenors of the liaison committee have a right to attend party room meetings and together exercise one vote.

In February Buckingham disputed the election of the PLC co-convenors, Phil Bradley and Left Renewal member Holly Brooke, leading to the returning officer voiding the election.

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In a fresh election, the state delegates council again elected Brooke and Bradley, despite Buckingham and Field expressing concerns that a member of Left Renewal could now attend and vote in the party room.

The Left Renewal faction, which emerged in December, advocates the overthrow of capitalism and has drawn rebukes from the federal leader, Richard Di Natale, who has labelled its platform ridiculous and complained it has introduced factionalism into the Greens.

Rhiannon and NSW Greens upper house member, David Shoebridge, who are not Left Renewal members, have defended its right to oppose capitalism and argued it is “perfectly natural” for groupings to form in parties to achieve common goals.

Elsewhere, Shoebridge has has publicly argued the “No Nastiness” grouping set-up by a staff member of Buckingham could be considered a faction. The NSW factional battle has spilled into the open recently because of the success of Field and Walker in preselections against opposition by the hard left.

A spokesman and spokeswoman for Buckingham and Field said they had no comment.