Greens South Australia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Australian Greens SA
Founded	1995
Headquarters	7/291 Angas St Adelaide SA 5000
Ideology	Green ideas Progressive ideas
Political position	Left-wing
National affiliation	Australian Greens
South Australian Legislative Council	2 / 22
Australian Senate	2 / 12 (SA seats)
Adelaide City Council	1 / 12
Port Adelaide Enfield City Council	1 / 18
Unley City Council	2 / 13
Mount Barker District Council	1 / 11
Website
greens.org.au/sa
Politics of Australia Political parties

The Australian Greens SA is a political party in South Australia. It is part of the larger Australian Greens party. This party focuses on green politics, which means they care a lot about the environment and social fairness.

Currently, the party has four members in the Australian Parliament and the South Australian Parliament. Sarah Hanson-Young and Barbara Pocock are in the Senate (part of the federal parliament). Tammy Franks and Robert Simms are in the South Australian Legislative Council (part of the state parliament).

How the Greens SA Started and Grew

Before 1995, there was a small local Green party in South Australia. It was not very active. In 1995, Mark Parnell started meetings to create a new Green party. A visit from Bob Brown, a well-known Green politician, helped get the new party officially registered.

The Australian Greens (SA) first ran in elections in 1996 (federal) and 1997 (state). In both elections, they received about two percent of the votes for the upper house.

Since then, the Greens SA have slowly gained more support. This happened partly because another party, the Australian Democrats, lost popularity. The Greens SA now have two members in the state's Legislative Council and two in the federal Senate. Recent polls show that more than 10 percent of people support the Greens.

A Member Changes Parties

Kris Hanna was a member of the Labor Party and was elected in 1997. In 2003, he decided to join The Greens. However, in 2006, Hanna left the party. He said his voters wanted him to be independent, meaning not tied to any party.

First Green Member Elected in 2006

At the 2006 South Australian state election, Mark Parnell, an environmental lawyer, became the first Green candidate to be elected in South Australia. He won a spot in the South Australian Legislative Council. The party received 4.3 percent of the first choice votes for the upper house. For the lower house, they got 6.5 percent of the votes, which was a good increase.

The best result for the lower house was in the area of electoral district of Heysen. Here, the Greens received 17.7 percent of the first choice votes.

First Green Senator Elected in 2007

In the 2007 Australian federal election, Sarah Hanson-Young became South Australia's first Green Senator. She won the last Senate spot for South Australia with 6.5 percent of the first choice votes. The Greens received the most support in the federal areas of Adelaide, Boothby, and Mayo.

Mayo By-election in 2008

In 2008, there was a special election called a by-election in the area of Mayo. This happened because the previous member, Alexander Downer, resigned. The Labor Party decided not to run in this by-election.

The Greens candidate, Lynton Vonow, came in second place. He received 21.35 percent of the first choice votes. This was a big jump in support for the Greens. After other votes were counted, he ended up with 46.97 percent of the total votes. He almost won the seat from the Liberal Party.

Growing Support in 2010 Elections

Before the 2010 South Australian state election, polls showed that support for the Greens had grown from about four percent to ten percent or more. In the lower house, their votes increased to 8.1 percent. For the upper house, they received 6.6 percent of the votes, which led to Tammy Franks (then Tammy Jennings) being elected.

At the 2010 Australian federal election, the Greens SA also saw a big increase in support. They gained 6.8 percent more votes in South Australia for the Australian Senate. This brought their total to 13.3 percent of the statewide vote. As a result, Penny Wright was elected, joining Sarah Hanson-Young and other Green Senators.

Elections in 2013 and 2014

Sarah Hanson-Young was re-elected in the 2013 Australian federal election. The Greens received 7.1 percent of the first choice votes across the state. They were strongest in the area of Mayo, where they got over 14 percent of the first choice votes.

15 out of 47 voting areas in South Australia had more than 10 percent Green votes in the 2014 South Australian state election. In the 2013 Australian federal election, the Green vote was over 10 percent in Adelaide, Boothby, and Mayo.

In the 2014 South Australian state election, Mark Parnell was re-elected to the upper house. The Greens received 6.5 percent of the statewide first choice votes for the upper house. For the lower house, they got 8.7 percent of the votes.

Lynton Vonow ran for the Greens in the area of Heysen. He came second after other votes were counted, with 39 percent of the votes. The Greens have always done well in Heysen. They also had strong results in areas like Kavel and Davenport, with over 15 percent of the first choice votes.

New Members Join Parliament

In September 2015, Senator Penny Wright resigned for family reasons. Later that month, Robert Simms was chosen to take her place in the Senate. This was done by a special meeting of the Parliament of South Australia.

In March 2016, a federal election was called. The party had to choose which of their two senators, Sarah Hanson-Young or Robert Simms, would be listed first on the ballot. They chose Sarah Hanson-Young, and she was re-elected.

In the 2018 South Australian state election, Tammy Franks was re-elected to the Legislative Council. The party received 5.87% of the statewide vote for the upper house.

In the 2019 Australian federal election, Sarah Hanson-Young was re-elected to the Senate. The party's support increased by 5.03% in the upper house, reaching a total of 10.9% of the votes. The Greens were strongest in the area of Adelaide, where Barbara Pocock received 15.7% of the first choice votes.

In 2021, Mark Parnell resigned from the state parliament. Robert Simms, who had been chosen to run in the next state election, was appointed to the state upper house to replace him. Tammy Franks became the leader of the party in parliament.

In the 2022 South Australian state election, Robert Simms was re-elected to the state's upper house. The party's vote for the Legislative Council was 9%, an increase of 3.2%. Sean Cullen-MacAskill received 14.5% of first choice votes in the area of Adelaide.

In the 2022 Australian federal election, the party aimed to have two senators from South Australia. With a 0.99% increase in Senate votes, reaching 11.9% overall, Prof Barbara Pocock was elected as South Australia's newest senator. The party did best in the Division of Adelaide, where Rebecca Galdies received 20.1% of the first choice votes.

State Election Results

Legislative Assembly (Lower House)

Legislative Council (Upper House)

Federal Election Results

How the Party is Organized

State Council

The party has a State Council that meets four times a year. They handle the party's main tasks and plans. There is also a Policy and Campaigning Council. This group includes people from different local branches and member groups. They meet every two months to help decide the party's main goals.

Branches

Branches are local groups where new members can meet other Greens. They talk about politics and policies, help with local campaigns, and raise money. They also learn about what else is happening in the party.

Member Action Groups

The State Council has set up different member action groups. All Greens members can join these groups. These groups help by creating new policies, working on specific issues, or doing other tasks given by the State Council. Some of these groups focus on:

• Indigenous Issues (about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
• Animal welfare (caring for animals)
• Greenhouse, energy and nuclear (about climate change and energy)
• Queer Greens (for LGBTQIA+ members and issues)
• Young Greens (for younger members)

Members of Parliament

Federal Parliament Members

• 

  Sarah Hanson-Young, a Greens SA Senator since 2007.

• 

  Barbara Pocock, a Greens SA Senator since 2022.

Former Federal Members

• Penny Wright (2011–2015)
• Robert Simms (2015–2016)

State Parliament Members

• 

  Robert Simms, a Greens SA MLC since 2021. He replaced Mark Parnell.

• 

  Tammy Franks, a Greens SA MLC since 2010.

Former State Members

• Kris Hanna (2003–2006): He was first elected for the Labor Party in 1997. He joined the Greens in 2003 and later became an independent politician.
• Mark Parnell (2006–2021): He was a Greens SA MLC from 2006.

See also

• 2008 Parnell–Bressington filibuster