Greens Co-Founder Says Party Must Return to Environmental Roots After Election Setback
Drew Hutton founded the Queensland Greens, and co-founded the Australian Greens alongside retired Senator Bob Brown in the early 1990s.
Hutton now is on the party outer and his membership suspended after opposing the participation of male-to-female trans people in women's activities and sports.
The environmental activist, who once chained himself to a tree in the Brisbane's Queen Street Mall, said that if the Greens wanted to expand their base, they needed to promote proper green causes.
'It wasn't a disaster for the Greens. But the Greens have plateaued in their support,' Hutton told The Epoch Times, adding that preferences contributed to the end result.
'My concern is that they are not pursuing strategies which allow them to talk to ordinary Australians,' he said.
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Activist Drew Hutton in his heyday chained to a tree in Brisbane's Queen Street Mall. The co-founder of the Australian Greens and founder of the Queensland Greens, is now at odds with the party he founded over his support of women's rights. He remains active.
Courtesy of Drew Hutton
'They locked into the youth vote, but the older people get, the less they vote the Greens.'
While the party's overall vote only declined by 0.2 percent, the swing of preferences saw the party lose three of its four lower house seats, including party leader Adam Bandt's seat of Melbourne, which he has held since 2010.
Bandt recorded a 4.8 percent primary swing away from him.
'I think what puts people off is they talk down to people too much and they're not pragmatic enough, they've been too combative,' Hutton said.
'I'm not convinced the Albanese government is going to be receptive to good environmental reforms ... the Greens need to take it right up to the Labor government.
'I've got no problem being aggressive on those things, but they have to be important (things).'
A new Greens leader is yet to emerge and Hutton says the decision will be critical because it could either drive the party back to its origins, or see it drift further away.
Greens for Gaza
Last year, the Greens leadership had hoped to expand its share of seats across several elections, but this did not eventuate.
One of the main factors blamed has been the party's focus on backing Palestine in the Israel-Hamas War.
Greens MPs was often present at pro-Palestinian rallies and university encampments.
In response, one Melbourne Jewish man even lodged
Following the election, defeated Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the Gaza issue was their downfall.
'No spin by Adam Bandt can change the reality that he, and other Green members, lost their seats because of their appalling treatment of the Jewish community,' he said.
'Australians were rightly disgusted at their behaviour.'
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said Bandt's approach to the conflict, which levelled all blame on Israel for Oct. 7, 2023, was not supportive of Palestinians.
'It shows that he is not a supporter of Palestinians at all,' he told the Australian Jewish News. 'He is an exploiter of them. They only interest him as a gimmick through which he can express his hatred for Israel.
'The Greens claim to be counter-establishment and progressive. But they are rooted in the old, failed ideology of communism and the socialism of fools—anti-Semitism.'
Labor's Foreign Minister Penny Wong criticised Bandt for his 'aggressive' approach.
'I think Australians rejected the politics of conflict and the politics of grievance,' she said.
While Labor Minister Tanya Plibersek said the Greens were no longer a party of environmentalists.
'I don't think the Greens is the party of (founder) Bob Brown anymore,' she said.
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New York Post
21 minutes ago
- New York Post
A stranger told me I was sending my kids to ‘Nazi camp' — this shows how mainstream anti-Jew hate has become
My children go to a Zionist Jewish summer camp. It's the kind of place that instills pride in Jewish identity and love for Israel while giving kids the normal joys of camp: canoeing, hiking, and endless games of soccer. But on the last Friday before the session ended, the kids and staff experienced a scare that revealed just how fragile Jewish life in America has become. During a live-streamed ceremony, paragliders appeared over the campus. They swooped low, and panic rippled through the crowd. For most American campers, it was confusing. For the Israeli staff and campers, many of them children directly impacted by the October 7th terror attacks near Gaza, the sight was terrifying. Paragliders were how Hamas terrorists descended that morning to murder, rape, and kidnap. The sound of their motors and the image of their canopies burned into memory. 4 The cyber-attacker used their real name in the messages. bethanyshondark/X The camp had fundraised to bring dozens of these traumatized Israeli children to safety for the summer. For them, seeing paragliders overhead was not a quirky airshow, it was the beginning of another attack. Staff acted instantly. State police were called. The children were evacuated to a secure location on campus. The livestream was cut off after we watched the evacuation begin. Parents, myself included, went into panic mode, wondering if we were watching another massacre unfold in real time. Thankfully, the paragliders were not terrorists. It was a misguided stunt, not an attack. But the trauma was real. Jewish children, American and Israeli alike, relived October 7th that afternoon in the middle of a peaceful American summer camp. When I shared what happened online, my post went viral, with over 5 million views. Instead of compassion, what flooded in were thousands of hateful comments. Strangers mocked the idea that Jewish children could have PTSD. They sneered at traumatized kids as if they were actors in some propaganda campaign. And then I opened a direct message that made my stomach turn. A woman, using her real name, wrote: 'F— you and f— your kid who goes to Nazi summer camp! Free Palestine from you sick f—s!' After I called her out, she went on, 'You are literally indoctrinating your children with the idea that raping and murdering people for their land is not only okay but promised to you by god. Zionism is a disease that you are spreading to your children and one day you will be recognized as the supporter of Genocide that you are.' 4 Mandel decided to search up the person behind the messaged and exposed them to their workplace. bethanyshondark/X That message didn't come from a troll in a dark basement. Thirty seconds of searching showed me that Danielle Gordon of Denver is a white, middle-class, college-educated employee of Fidelity, one of the largest financial institutions in the country. Her LinkedIn profile describes her as 'dedicated to working in inclusive, respectful, and ethical places.' And yet here she was, spewing genocidal hate at Jewish children. I decided to expose her name for three reasons. First, to show just how mainstream this kind of hate has become. Danielle isn't some fringe extremist hiding behind an anonymous account. She's a professional at one of the most respected financial institutions in the country. She's a typical progressive parroting TikTok talking points about Jews, Zionism, and Israel. At one point she even lectured me that 'Zionism goes against your religion' — a laughable claim for anyone who has read a page of Jewish history. Her hatred isn't rare; it's disturbingly ordinary. And that's what makes it so dangerous. This strain of progressive antisemitism thrives side by side with self-aggrandizing claims of moral superiority. Second, accountability matters. If Danielle Gordon is representing Fidelity and a client mentions assets or travel plans tied to Israel, should that client trust their money in her hands? 4 Mandel found her LinkedIn profile, where she works at Fidelity. bethanyshondark/X These are not abstract concerns; they go to the heart of whether Jews can participate equally in American life without fear that professionals charged with safeguarding our futures secretly despise us. (In a statement to The Post, Fidelity responded on Tuesday: 'Fidelity does not tolerate hateful, harassing or discriminatory behavior of any kind. The individual no longer works at Fidelity.') And third, I am an October 8th Jew. October 7th shattered the illusion of safety. October 8th was the day after, the day we realized the world would excuse terror and that the hatred we always suspected was there was now fully in the open. I am done playing nice. If you want to make Jewish children relive their trauma, if you want to mock their PTSD and celebrate their fear, then don't expect to do so with anonymity and no consequences. For too long, Jews in America have been told to keep our heads down, not make waves, not 'provoke.' That strategy hasn't worked. The murders of Jews in Los Angeles, Detroit, Denver, and Washington, D.C., prove that. A Zionist Jewish summer camp is, in fact, a target. To pretend otherwise is delusion. 4 Mandel said that she exposed the name to show how this type of hate has become mainstream. bethanyshondark/X So here is my message: if you come at Jews, expect a fight. That's what being an October 8th Jew means. It means the days of pretending antisemitism is rare or fringe are over. It means no longer accepting excuses for those who dehumanize us. It means fighting back with every tool we have: our voices, our platforms, and our refusal to be silent. Get opinions and commentary from our columnists Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Jewish children should be able to go to camp in America without fearing that paragliders overhead signal another massacre. Parents should not have to wonder if strangers online want their kids dead. And no professional should be able to boast about 'inclusivity' by day while preaching genocide against Jews on weekends without being held accountable. October 7th was the day of horror. October 8th was the day of reckoning. And we are still living in it. Bethany Mandel writes and podcasts at The Mom Wars.
Atlantic
23 minutes ago
- Atlantic
Trump Doesn't Understand What Lasting Peace Requires
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. On the surface, yesterday's White House summit on Ukraine showed an impressively unified front among President Donald Trump, major European leaders, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The participants all smiled and expressed optimism. Zelensky donned a suit, avoiding harangues like those he received over his military attire during his previous visit. Yes, the leaders offered sometimes exaggerated praise for Trump, but the president also praised each of them in hyperbolic terms, and he had a few good lines, even if NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte laughed a little too hard at some of them. The biggest division during the meeting was not about whether Trump is more sympathetic to Russia or Ukraine, the central question in the past. Instead, the disunity was over substance versus process. Trump appeared to treat the peace negotiation as basically a series of steps to be completed, while his counterparts were more focused on questions of cease-fires and security guarantees. This cleavage suggests that although European leaders appear to have succeeded—at least for now—in persuading Trump to move somewhat toward them and away from Russian President Vladimir Putin, turning that into a real peace will still be challenging. For Trump, the answer to stopping the war appears to be getting the right sequence of meetings: First, he met with Putin; then he met with Zelensky; next, he will meet with both men and, he says, hammer out a deal. 'We're going to try and work out a [trilateral meeting] after that and see if we can get it finished, put this to sleep,' he said yesterday. (Zelensky was open to such a meeting yesterday. The White House said today that Putin has agreed as well, but the Kremlin has been publicly noncommittal.) Zelensky and the other Europeans, meanwhile, were much more concerned about the details of what might come up at this eventual trilateral meeting, or along the way. For the pro-Ukraine bloc, the big victory from yesterday was a discussion of security guarantees for Ukraine—basically, assurances that once a peace deal is in place, allies will assist Ukraine if Russia restarts hostilities. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, discussed creating something similar to NATO's Article 5 mutual-defense agreement. But Trump was notably vague about what sort of commitments he might make. Trump also wavered on the importance of a cease-fire. Prior to his summit with Putin in Alaska last week, Trump had insisted on a cessation of hostilities, which Putin flatly rejected. Now Trump seems to have given up on that. 'All of us would obviously prefer an immediate cease-fire while we work on a lasting peace,' he said. 'And maybe something like that could happen. As of this moment, it's not happening.' (As if to underscore the point, Russian drones struck Ukraine yesterday—though this sort of provocation also seems to be one reason for Trump's new openness to Ukraine.) Some observers were appalled by Trump's meeting with Putin on American soil, noting that the Russian president is a butcher, an autocrat, and a war criminal wanted on international warrants. All of this is true, and nauseating, but as National Review 's Rich Lowry notes, achieving peace will require dealing with Putin. (When President Barack Obama tried diplomacy with Iran, Republicans were outraged; now the roles are reversed.) Peace deals are judged on results, not always the character of those making them. Yasser Arafat and Henry Kissinger were Nobel Peace laureates, after all. Sitting down, however, is not enough on its own, and if treated that way, it can simply encourage bad actors such as Putin by giving them status and recognition without requiring any or many concessions. Trump sees himself as a dealmaker, and he's often described—sometimes, though not always, positively—as transactional. But he is so personally motivated by deals per se that he doesn't always appear to grasp that others are not, or why they're not. Trump's approach to this negotiation has ignored the fact that Putin doesn't seem interested in a deal at all: He appears content to drag the war out as long as possible. Nor does Trump's method account for the fact that some terms of a peace deal would be so onerous as to make it unacceptable to Zelensky on patriotic and political grounds. Dealing with the messy details is hard work, and Trump has never shown much interest in, or patience for, policy minutiae. This fetishization of process over substance has previously led Trump into the same diplomatic cul-de-sacs. In 2018—despite the skepticism of some of his own aides—he met with North Korea's Kim Jong Un in Singapore. The summit produced all the pageantry and pomp that Trump adores, and it led to a pen-pal relationship between the men, but in part because that was his focus, the gambit has not produced any breakthroughs on North Korea opening up, reducing nefarious activities overseas, or relinquishing nuclear weapons. Trump has held multiple meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to move toward a peace deal in Gaza, but his inability to get much traction there has led him to lash out at his ally. Other perils still dog the Ukraine peace process. Trump continues to speak about Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine as though Ukraine had some choice or culpability in the matter. ('Russia is a powerful military nation, you know, whether people like it or not,' he said on Fox & Friends this morning. 'It's a much bigger nation. It's not a war that should have been started; you don't do that. You don't take—you don't take on a nation that's 10 times your size.') Trump also has a tendency to latch on to whatever he heard from the last person he spoke with, which explains his vacillation between Friday's friendliness to Putin and yesterday's chumminess with Zelensky, and makes it hard to know where he might settle. But the biggest challenge at this moment is the nitty-gritty. Process is important and shouldn't be written off, but it's important because it provides a framework for resolving the substance. No peace deal can be achieved without accepting that. Today's News Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the coming weeks, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. In an interview on Fox News this morning, President Donald Trump said that no U.S. ground forces will go to Ukraine as part of any peace deal with Russia, but he is open to providing Ukraine with military air support. The Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether Washington, D.C., police manipulated data to make the city's crime rates appear lower, according to The Washington Post. More From The Atlantic The Growing Cohort of Single Dads by Choice By Faith Hill Charlie Calkins grew up in a big extended family. We're talking about nearly 30 cousins—some of whom had their own kids. When he was in high school, he spent a lot of time with those young children: a position that some surly teens might resent but that Calkins adored. The idea that someday he would be a father himself seemed, to him, only natural. He just needed to wait for the right partner to show up. So he did: He waited and waited. He went to business school. He built a career in tech. He traveled. And he went on dates. When a relationship didn't work out, he'd return to 'professional mode'—bouncing between 'intermittent surges' of dating and work. 'I spent a lot of my early adulthood going, When everything's right, it will happen,' he told me. 'I'm definitely a The stars will align kind of person. And then one day it hit me: They were not aligning.' That's how Calkins ended up, in his 40s, making an appointment with a fertility clinic. Read. A new generation of disabled writers isn't interested in inspiring readers, Sophia Stewart writes. Watch. Remaking an Akira Kurosawa masterpiece is no small task, but Highest 2 Lowest (out now in theaters) is a worthy attempt, David Sims writes.
Politico
23 minutes ago
- Politico
Live by the tweets, die by the tweets
Presented by NY Offshore Wind Alliance 'I TWEET THEREFORE I AM': Andrew Cuomo shouted out his new social media gurus at a Hamptons fundraiser Saturday evening. 'They're going to do all sorts of stupid things on social media,' the mayoral candidate said in audio obtained by Playbook. 'And I'll do it. Sometimes it works.' Sure enough, the team did a stupid thing. The Cuomo campaign is scrambling to distance themselves from self-proclaimed memelord Jason Levin after he proudly boasted on X late Monday about making a meme the Cuomo campaign posted — and his plan to do more. The problem for Cuomo is that Levin's online persona is that of a provocative MAGA booster, proudly proclaiming he voted for Trump last year. 'I'M A PROUD JEW WHO VOTED FOR HITLER,' Levin posted over a photo of Trump in a yarmulke. Calling him 'Hitler' was meant as a sarcastic criticism of liberals who do the same, since Levin made clear in other X posts he believes Trump has been 'the best supporter of the Jewish people and Israel we could ever ask for.' Levin didn't respond to a request for comment. But he 'is not paid by the campaign, he suggested one meme to someone on that team,' Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi told Playbook. 'Hatred, bigotry, misogyny and anything like that has no place in this race.' His questionable posts were quickly spread by Mamdani allies, but Azzopardi said the Democratic nominee's team should be careful suggesting guilt by association. 'If Mamdani's campaign wants to play that game, there are plenty of problematic people who think America deserved 9/11 and who think 'from the river to the sea' is a perfectly fine thing to say standing next to him at a rally,' he said, referring to lefty streamer Hasan Piker, who's backed Mamdani. 'Hatred, bigotry, misogyny, and racism have in fact found a home in this race — on Andrew Cuomo's new-look digital team,' Mamdani campaign spokesperson Dora Pekec responded. 'There's no strategy they won't embrace in their tragic efforts at relevance. Their digital presence perfectly encapsulates Cuomo's regressive, conservative politics and wouldn't be out of place in Trump's D.C. — but it has no place in New York City.' The memelord arose at a bad time for Cuomo, as his campaign is also trying to downplay the former governor's comments at the same Hamptons fundraiser — first reported by POLITICO — where he said he hoped to benefit from Trump's involvement in the race. Levin posted a photo with Cuomo that appeared to be taken at a Monday night young professionals fundraiser, co-hosted by the candidate's actual social media manager, Daniel Liss. Azzopardi declined to talk about Liss's team or how he's getting paid until the campaign reports its financial disclosure on Friday — but he noted that Levin's meme Liss approved 'did very well.' Cuomo has pivoted to a much more 'online' voice on X since losing the Democratic primary to the social media savvy Mamdani. He explained at the Hamptons fundraiser that's part of his strategy to win the general, saying he was now 'very social media adept.' But minutes later, he lamented the political culture today while suggesting Mamdani was thin on policy. 'This whole business has gotten very superficial, right? I tweet therefore I am. It's all about Tiktok now, right? And it all comes down to three words. Every policy is three words, right?' he said. 'But the more you discuss and explore with people what exactly you're talking about, the less sense it makes.' — Jeff Coltin From the Capitol GHOST IN THE GRID: Cuomo's successful quest to shut down the Indian Point nuclear plant dirtied the grid of the city he's now fighting to lead and spiked costs for consumers. Cuomo fought for decades to shut the nuclear plant located 25 miles north of the city. He raised concerns about the safety of the aging plant and its proximity to the city, where an evacuation — if the worst happened — would be impossible. When the plant was shuttered, gas power plants filled in the gap. The state's electricity emissions increased 22 percent from 2019 to 2022 after the nuclear plant closed, making the state's and city's climate goals more challenging to achieve. 'The city is much more reliant on its in-city fossil generation in a way that didn't have to happen the way it did,' said Dan Zarrilli, former chief climate policy adviser to Mayor Bill de Blasio. 'It was clear that natural gas was going to fill that gap.' Electricity prices also rose — a potential political liability for Cuomo as affordability has become a paramount concern in the mayoral race. Cuomo still defends the decision to close the plant because of major safety concerns. But as Democratic officials embrace nuclear and the state's renewable buildout falters, they're having some regrets. Gov. Kathy Hochul said there should have been better planning to meet the state's energy needs before shutting Indian Point. Rep. Ritchie Torres, who ultimately decided not to challenge Hochul after flirting with a gubernatorial run, said closing Indian Point was a mistake. — Marie J. French Read the full story from Marie French in POLITICO Pro THREE MORE YEARS: You'll have to wait 'til 2028. Hochul said today she wishes New York's Constitution were a little more like California's so she could more quickly respond to Texas' Republican redistricting efforts. Still, Hochul made clear her plan is to have new, Democrat-friendly congressional maps redrawn in time for House elections three years from now — the soonest the state's Constitution allows. 'Everyone says, 'Why don't you do what Gavin Newsom does?'' Hochul told reporters today, referencing California's governor, at an unrelated event in Albany. 'Gavin Newsom has a very different situation, because if I could, I would. I didn't ask for this. I wish everybody played fair. But if you're going to change the rules of the game in the middle of it, then I'm not sitting on the sidelines and letting that happen.' On Monday, the Texas Democratic lawmakers who bolted from their state to prevent their Legislature from moving forward with Trump-led redistricting efforts returned after a two-week sojourn. Ohio is also looking to redraw its maps in a way that would favor Republicans, though their redistricting efforts were already on the calendar before the Texas showdown. Missouri's governor has yet to confirm whether he will embrace calls from his fellow Republicans to redraw maps there, too. Newsom and the California's Democrats released their plan to redraw California's maps in response to Texas' efforts on Friday. Hochul has said she wants to change or eliminate New York's independent redistricting commission — which she says forces her to 'fight with my hand tied behind my back' — and replace it with a process that is nakedly partisan. That would require a constitutional amendment. But Hochul noted today there's 'no urgency' to move forward because the state's Constitution says amendments must be approved by the Legislature in two consecutive sessions — so acting now instead of January won't change the timeline. (We're currently in the 2025-2026 session). After that, voters need to approve the measure at the ballot box. 'That'll be in place for the 2028 Congressionals,' Hochul said of the new maps, noting voters will likely see the amendment on their ballots in the fall of 2027, if all goes to plan. 'Right now, we're on a path to have it not happen until 2032, so I can shave those years off.' — Jason Beeferman From City Hall TARGETING COURTHOUSE ARRESTS: Mayor Eric Adams filed an amicus brief today in support of a lawsuit by immigrant advocacy groups against the Trump administration calling for an end to the arrests at immigration court proceedings. Masked federal immigration agents have been detaining noncitizens outside courtrooms — including at 26 Federal Plaza — to fast-track them for deportation, though the practice has slowed as fewer people show up for court. The amicus brief comes as the mayor, running for reelection as an independent, seeks to delineate when he will work with Trump and when he'll stand up to the president's deportation agenda. 'If people are afraid of the legal process, then they will live in the shadows, and people will prey on them,' the mayor told reporters today. 'We have to allow people to go through the legal process.' Several New York Democratic officials have condemned the courthouse arrests, saying migrants are doing the right thing by showing up to their court dates and they're not the violent criminals Trump said he would prioritize for deportation. New York City Corporation Counsel Muriel Goode-Trufant was more blunt than Adams in her statement about the city's move to back plaintiffs African Communities Together and The Door in the Southern District of New York. 'New York City has become the epicenter of the Trump administration's courthouse arrest campaign,' said Goode-Trufant. 'With every illegal courthouse arrest, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is chipping away at the bedrock principles of fairness and due process that support our entire system of justice.' — Emily Ngo IN OTHER NEWS — TORRES FOR HOCHUL: Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres endorsed Hochul for reelection today after spending eight months harshly criticizing her on a host of issues while floating a primary challenge. (News 12) — CRYPTO PAC PROBLEM: A pro-Adams Super PAC backed by cryptocurrency firms didn't disclose its spending to the city's Campaign Finance Board for weeks. (Daily News) — SPITZER SPEAKS: Former governor Eliot Spitzer talked about Mamdani's victory, his relationships with Cuomo and Trump, and his refusal to consider whether his prostitution scandal would've led to his downfall today. (Vanity Fair) — NEVER SETTLE: Adams' city lawyer said that there is 'no interest' in settling with the woman who filed a civil suit claiming he sexually assaulted her. (Courthouse News Service) Missed this morning's New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
