Climate Change Coalition
Encyclopedia
4Change, formerly known as the Climate Change Coalition (CCC), was an Australia
n political party
, which was formed in 2007 with a view to accelerate action by politicians from all parties on global warming
and climate change
. Its position on working towards addressing climate change, stresses cooperation with big business in order to achieve significant progress on the issue. The party therefore advocates a close working relationship between environmentalists and the business community. The CCC was registered as a political party with the Australian Electoral Commission
(AEC) on 4 September 2007 and deregistered on 25 March 2010.
. The first election that it contested was the New South Wales
March 2007 state election. The CCC ran a group of 21 candidates (dubbed by detractors the "Gang of 21", an allusion to the Gang of Four
) standing for the Legislative Council
, the NSW Upper House of Parliament . Heading this group was Patrice Newell
, an author and biodynamic
beef farmer. The CCC received criticism from some groups, for refusing to advocate preferences
, under the Australian preferential voting
system, to other political parties with strong environmental credentials.
The group was not registered as a political party in NSW and so under NSW electoral law could not display a party name on the ballot paper at the top of the group column. The 21 "Group F" candidates polled 18,999 votes in total, or 0.50% of the total formal vote, and were therefore well short of the quota of 173,239 (4.55%) required for election of any candidate.
in the 2007 federal election.
The party's NSW Senate candidates were Patrice Newell and Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
, a well-known scientist and media personality. The party fielded candidates for the senate in each of the other states with the exception of Tasmania
, and also fielded a candidate in the ACT
. The candidates were; in Western Australia
Gary Warden, and Sarah Bishop; in South Australia
, Dr Colin Edean and Vidas Kublilus; in Queensland
, Phil Johnson and Steven Posselt; and in Victoria
, Ainslie Howard. The ACT senate candidate was Michael Fullam-Stone.
With a favourable ballot paper placement (column E) and with the party's name shown on the ballot paper the party scored 0.83% of the vote in NSW (a 0.33% increase on its NSW state election result) but failed to secure the election of any of its candidates. Results in other states were in the range 0.27% (in Western Australia) to 0.78% (in Victoria). Nationwide the party received 78,710 votes (0.62%).
observed that "Hanson
, the Queensland
political relic standing for the Senate
, has managed a preference deal with the snooty CCC...".
The CCC preferenced the Australian Democrats
highest in all States and placed the Greens
ahead of the Liberal
and Labor
Parties in all States. The flow of preferences did not affect the election of the Greens' Scott Ludlam
to the final Senate position in WA. According to the Party, the allocation of preferences was determined to give the greatest chance of electoral success, but may have worked to reduce its primary vote support.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
, which was formed in 2007 with a view to accelerate action by politicians from all parties on global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
and climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
. Its position on working towards addressing climate change, stresses cooperation with big business in order to achieve significant progress on the issue. The party therefore advocates a close working relationship between environmentalists and the business community. The CCC was registered as a political party with the Australian Electoral Commission
Australian Electoral Commission
The Australian Electoral Commission, or the AEC, is the federal government agency in charge of organising and supervising federal elections and referendums. State and local government elections are overseen by the Electoral Commission in each state and territory.The Australian Electoral Commission...
(AEC) on 4 September 2007 and deregistered on 25 March 2010.
2007 New South Wales state election
When it was first conceived and established in 2006, the Climate Change Coalition was not initially a political party, but rather a grouping of independentsIndependent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
. The first election that it contested was the New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
March 2007 state election. The CCC ran a group of 21 candidates (dubbed by detractors the "Gang of 21", an allusion to the Gang of Four
Gang of Four
The Gang of Four was the name given to a political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution and were subsequently charged with a series of treasonous crimes...
) standing for the Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
, the NSW Upper House of Parliament . Heading this group was Patrice Newell
Patrice Newell
Patrice Lesley Newell is a former model, TV presenter, turned author, alternative lifestyle advocate and biodynamic farmer...
, an author and biodynamic
Biodynamic agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that emphasizes the holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system. Biodynamic farming has much in common with other organic approaches, such as emphasizing the use of manures and composts...
beef farmer. The CCC received criticism from some groups, for refusing to advocate preferences
Preferential voting
Preferential voting is a type of ballot structure used in several electoral systems in which voters rank candidates in order of relative preference. For example, the voter may select their first choice as '1', their second preference a '2', and so on...
, under the Australian preferential voting
Preferential voting
Preferential voting is a type of ballot structure used in several electoral systems in which voters rank candidates in order of relative preference. For example, the voter may select their first choice as '1', their second preference a '2', and so on...
system, to other political parties with strong environmental credentials.
The group was not registered as a political party in NSW and so under NSW electoral law could not display a party name on the ballot paper at the top of the group column. The 21 "Group F" candidates polled 18,999 votes in total, or 0.50% of the total formal vote, and were therefore well short of the quota of 173,239 (4.55%) required for election of any candidate.
2007 Australian federal election
The Climate Change Coalition was registered as a political party by the AEC on 4 September 2007. The party announced it intended to run candidates for the Australian SenateAustralian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
in the 2007 federal election.
The party's NSW Senate candidates were Patrice Newell and Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
Karl Kruszelnicki
Karl Kruszelnicki AM is a scientist, who is best known as an author and science commentator on Australian radio and television. He is often referred to as Dr Karl....
, a well-known scientist and media personality. The party fielded candidates for the senate in each of the other states with the exception of Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, and also fielded a candidate in the ACT
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
. The candidates were; in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
Gary Warden, and Sarah Bishop; in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, Dr Colin Edean and Vidas Kublilus; in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Phil Johnson and Steven Posselt; and in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Ainslie Howard. The ACT senate candidate was Michael Fullam-Stone.
With a favourable ballot paper placement (column E) and with the party's name shown on the ballot paper the party scored 0.83% of the vote in NSW (a 0.33% increase on its NSW state election result) but failed to secure the election of any of its candidates. Results in other states were in the range 0.27% (in Western Australia) to 0.78% (in Victoria). Nationwide the party received 78,710 votes (0.62%).
Preferences
During the 2007 Federal election, the Climate Change Coalition was criticised for the way it distributed its preferences, with some parties antithetical to the policies of the Climate Change Coalition placed higher on Senate group voting tickets than others with more similar positions on the issue. Political journalist Malcolm FarrMalcolm Farr
Malcolm Farr is a political journalist in the Canberra Press Gallery covering the Parliament of Australia in Canberra, the national capital of Australia.-Work:Malcolm Farr is a well known political journalist....
observed that "Hanson
Pauline Hanson
Pauline Lee Hanson is an Australian politician and former leader of Pauline Hanson's One Nation, a political party with a populist and anti-multiculturalism platform...
, the Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
political relic standing for the Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
, has managed a preference deal with the snooty CCC...".
The CCC preferenced the Australian Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
highest in all States and placed the Greens
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
ahead of the Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
and Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
Parties in all States. The flow of preferences did not affect the election of the Greens' Scott Ludlam
Scott Ludlam
Scott Ludlam is an Australian politician and Greens member of the Australian Senate since July 2008, representing the state of Western Australia....
to the final Senate position in WA. According to the Party, the allocation of preferences was determined to give the greatest chance of electoral success, but may have worked to reduce its primary vote support.