Liberal Party Australia

The day Bob Brown wanted to join Robert Menzies' Liberals

But in what may have been his sliding doors moment, when he got there "the door was shut and that was that". He never went back.

"I was very confused in those days," Brown now says.

The former doctor, who rose to fame fighting to stop the Franklin Dam in the 1980s, would never have lasted in the Liberal Party. But he has shaped the Greens into the third force in federal politics. They now have nine senators and when Labor and the Coalition disagree, the Greens will give the thumbs up or thumbs down.

While Brown declares politics has entered an "organically sweet" age, he says he feels like the persecuted Italian philosopher Galileo Galilei and likens the climate-change crusade to the battle to end slavery.

He expects to win this fight and is confident the Greens will in 50 years replace Labor as the second force in politics. One day, he says, Australia will have a Greens PM. "That's in our future . . . Oh yes, it's down the line."

Tony Abbott says Brown already acts like he is PM. Liberal TV ads portray him as a sinister, winking lime forcing Julia Gillard to impose a nation-destroying carbon tax. For conservatives and many in business circles, Brown is the bogey man.

Senior Victorian Liberal Kevin Andrews believes the Greens are a threat to wealth and prosperity, and if their policies were ever enacted, it would "radically change the economic and social culture of Australia".

Minerals Council supremo Mitch Hooke says the Greens' desire to replace coal-fired power with renewable energy would require "thousands of wind turbines and millions of solar panels for just one Latrobe Valley power station".

"Australians can no longer afford to be frivolous in dismissing the Greens as a fringe-dwelling party," he says.

The coal industry is running ads that warn $55 billion in revenue and 140,000 jobs are at risk. Brown says there are more people employed on the Barrier Reef than in the coal industry and those jobs are threatened by global warming.

"It's not too different to 200 years ago when people were getting rid of slavery in the British Empire and they were told they were going to wreck the economy because it meant their trade-exposed industries couldn't cope with America which still had slavery," says Brown.

He draws a parallel with Galileo who, in the 1600s, controversially said the sun was at the centre of the universe, not the Earth. He was tried by Inquisition, forced to recant and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.

Two years on and the Liberal Party still doesn't get workers ...

The ACTU is today releasing a report that totally debunks the views of the Liberal Party and big business that Australia’s workplace relations system is not working well and destroys any argument for any return to WorkChoices. The ACTU’s analysis of two years under the Fair Work Act confirms the system that replaced WorkChoices has been good for Australia’s economy, has led to less industrial disputes and more people than ever before are covered by collective bargaining. “The reality is the Fair Work Act has restored protection for all workers from unfair dismissal, the rights to collective bargaining, better access and representation from unions in the workplace, a proper safety net, and the abolition of Australian Workplace Agreements,” Mr Lawrence said. “In contrast, WorkChoices placed millions of workers in vulnerable employment, undermined protections, and led to real cuts to the value of minimum wages.” The ACTU’s report is a stocktake of the past two years, showing overall success in the restoration of workers’ rights. However, it also highlights areas where improvements must be made to further strengthen workers’ rights at work, especially for casuals and other non-permanent workers. Unions believe there should be one law for all workers not matter what industry they work in, and the discriminatory laws for the building and construction industry should be abolished. “Our analysis reiterates that during the Global Financial Crisis, Australia led the way in showing that a strong economy does not have to come at the cost of fair workplace relations,” Mr Lawrence said. This means that fair and secure conditions for all workers is crucial if we are going to drive productivity and participation, and build the skilled workforce our growing economy needs.

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