“We’ve taken the values that people in Melbourne believe in strongly – values of equality, values of looking after each other, and given them a voice on the national stage.”

Tucked away in the corner office of his campaign headquarters surrounded by an army of young volunteers, the Federal Member for Melbourne is in upbeat mood.
Despite reports to the contrary, Adam Bandt’s campaign team believe things are looking up.
A Galaxy Poll in July showed Bandt’s primary vote at 48 per cent and according to the latest polling it’s holding up.
They’re heartening figures for the Greens deputy leader and holder of the party’s only seat in the House of Representatives.
That projection – or something near it – will need to become a reality next Saturday if Bandt is to win.
Analysts say he will need at least 42 per cent of first preferences to push Labor into second place.
Bandt’s victory three years ago with around 36 per cent of the primary vote meant Labor was defeated on the back of Liberal Party preferences – but he will have to significantly out-perform his primary vote this time around. It’s a tough ask.
But then striving to become what he calls Australia’s next major political party isn’t without its challenges.
In 2010, almost 1.5 million people voted for the Greens in the Lower House and more than 1.6 million in the Senate. What did that support enable them to achieve?
“From the start of next year parents will be able to take their kids to the dentist and get Medicare to pay for dental treatment,” he says with some pride.
“3.4 million kids across the country will have that. It’s one of the big achievements because of Melbourne going to the Greens.”
“We got $13 billion into clean and renewable energy – which is the way Australia has to be powered in the future,” he adds.
Promotion of high-speed rail on the east coast, and taking the first steps towards recognising Indigenous Australians in the constitution are other signs of the Greens’ contribution to the national agenda, says Bandt.
Locally, that diversity of intervention is reflected further – from securing funding for JobWatch to provide legal support services for Melbourne workers to restoring iconic heritage sites like the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens.
The connection made between the independent inner-city spirit of Melbourne and the Greens’ agenda, says Bandt, has been crucial to informing the national political debate.
“We’ve taken the values that people in Melbourne believe in strongly – values of equality, values of looking after each other, and given them a voice on the national stage.”
“All of those things were done with one MP in Parliament,” he adds.
But couldn’t his description of inner-city Melburnians’ leanings to the left be mistaken for a Labor call-to-arms?
“A lot of things that Labor used to believe it has now abandoned,” he replies.
“People are distressed that Labor is becoming more like the Coalition every day – trying to out-tough Tony Abbott on questions like refugees, which is not the kind of society that people want to live in”.
On Abbott’s decision to relegate the Greens to last on the Liberal Party’s how-to-vote card, Bandt says he’s happy to wear it as a badge of honour.
“If Tony Abbott has to conduct a national press conference to say to the whole country ‘the Greens are the opposite of what I stand for’, then we must be doing something right.
“It means the people’s real choice at this election is – you can do what Tony Abbott wants, or you can vote Greens.
“There’s a reason why Tony Abbott wants a Labor backbencher in my seat. He knows that they will vote together on cutting university funding, cutting single-parent funding, all of those issues. They’re singing off the same song sheet,” says Bandt.
With aged care a major issue for the Greek community, I ask what the Greens’ position is on finding ways to improve the system, other than backing Labor’s reforms?
“We know a lot of elderly people, including the Greek community in Melbourne, are asset-rich but income poor,” says Bandt.
“Often they have houses that are worth a lot, but the pension is so low that it makes it difficult to make ends meet.
“We worked hard to make sure that any scheme that is arrived at, helps people stay in their homes for as long as possible, but allows them to draw on the value of their home.
“I don’t want to see a situation where people are forced from their homes in order to make ends meet and afford decent aged care.”
Bandt says his major concern for the next Parliament goes to the heart of any political debate – the distribution of wealth.
“We need the Greens in Parliament to argue for increases in social welfare and a better approach to taxation – where we ask wealthy mining companies to pay more so the rest of the population doesn’t have to.

“Aged care is a classic example. With an ageing population, we’re going to need to put more money into the system, and that means having a debate about where it’s going to come from.
“Taking it from those who can afford it is something we need to get back to.”
As the interview concludes there’s one last question I want to ask: Is what happens to his seat a test case for the Greens viability as a force in Australian politics?
“As we grow to become the next major party we have to be able to win seats like Melbourne,” says Bandt. It’s an answer that says it all.