Brent Heber and the Greens

The Green party has a quite comprehensive program. They have some reasonable proposals on tax avoidance. The problem as I see it that they wish to use the proceeds from cracking down on tax avoidance to increase spending on various initiatives, including more welfare spending, while I would rather reduce taxes and effective marginal tax rates.

The Greens plan to increase the refugee intake to 50000 (currently it is 13750 but scheduled to go to 18750 by 2018-19). They also plan to increase family reunion places by 10000. Without reductions elsewhere, this would amount to an additional increase of 41250 each year. I put this to Brent Heber who states that it is Greens policy not to increase immigration. He referred me to official Greens policy. The trouble is that the language in that policy is vague and fuzzy while the refugee targets are very specific.

On social issues, The Greens are too far left for my liking. Various religious institutions are currently exempt from anti-discrimination laws, so that they can provide service in accordance with their religion and the Greens want to do away with that. I refer you to official Greens policy for detail but here is just one quote "Even in states allowing adoption, discrimination still exists, with faith-based adoption agencies able to turn same-sex couples away. The best interests of children are upheld when discrimination against same-sex couples is removed.". I don't have any problem with same-sex couples adopting children. By all accounts those children have good outcomes. But The Greens' position is too extreme for me.

On the environment, The Greens are strong. They have some plans that are very ambitious. Are they too ambitious? Brent Heber assures me they are evidence-based and written with the help of experts. I can't quite overcome my scepticism. Here are some examples of very ambitious plans:

• from offical Greens policy: "The Greens' comprehensive and achievable pathway will reverse our reliance on fossil fuels from 84% of our energy mix today, to at least 90% renewable energy within 15 years." This one is not too bad. It is not a big problem if it takes a bit longer.
• from offical Greens policy: "No new coal-fired power stations or coal mines, and no expansions to any existing power stations or mines, plus the development of programs to assist coal-dependent communities to make the transition to other more sustainable sources of economic prosperity."