Published April 2025
Federal Greens Member for Brisbane Stephen Bates sums up his hopes for this election’s outcome with what he calls “incessant positivity”.
“I think there’s a real world where we get to the end of 2025 and we have a minority government, where we are passing bills that get dental into Medicare and are stopping coal and gas projects.
“There is a real genuine world in which that can happen with a minority government, so change can be good and better things are possible,” Bates says.
We have just been discussing the impact of a minority government on decision-making.
At a meeting with the New Farm Men’s Shed, as they seek advice from him about grant funding for their group, conversation naturally turns to politics.
One member asks how we could emulate the Nordic countries, with their high rates of happiness and socialist policies.
“Something that’s really fascinating about the Nordic countries is that you hear the argument that they pay a lot more in taxes. Our income tax rates (as percentage of total tax revenue) are actually slightly higher than all of them except Denmark,” Bates replies.
“So, in terms of their bang for buck, they actually get a lot more bang for buck…
“What Norway does is they tax the fossil fuel industry, specifically oil and gas, at an extremely high rate, higher than anything even the Greens would propose to do in Australia.
“Our rate that we proposed in this election is 40 per cent, and they have 76 per cent,” he says, as eyebrows shoot up around the room.
“I think the lesson from them is really even if you cannot copy and paste what is happening, it’s a blueprint,” he said.
While the Greens often make headlines for combative stances, Bates says the media often pushes this narrative.
“I find when I want to talk about, say, a really cool policy, like getting dental into Medicare, a lot of people in the media will say, ‘that’s not a fight, I don’t want to talk about that’… They want the speculation and the sensation of it all.”
Bates explains why he thinks a minority government is “a really good thing”.
“Having an MP that’s on the crossbench in a hung parliament is an extremely powerful situation for a community to be in.
“In a minority parliament situation, the government has to listen to the crossbench a lot of the time more than it has to listen to its own backbenches.
“So, that’s a that’s a huge opportunity for achieving lots of progress – the last minority parliament we had in 2010 ended up being the most productive parliament in the history of the country in terms of legislation that went through.”
American politics is brought up with surprising regularity, unprompted, from almost everyone Bates speaks to.
On the way to the meeting, Bates had told me why he got into politics in the first place – while living in America, he found his co-worker crying on the floor, upset because she was having to choose between her rent or her medication.
“In that moment, I made this decision, I have to understand how policy works, how government works, and how they got into this situation, so that I can go back to Australia and make sure this never happens,” he said.
Reflecting on the three years he has spent in politics so far, he said some of his proudest achievements include advocacy for his constituents, from help with public housing, immigration and NDIS to local campaigns such as getting a Senate Inquiry into flight noise.
Hosting a community barbeque in Willmington Park, Alderley, the Greens serve quesadillas and chat to residents.
Some have come from down the road for the free feed, while others have come because they are Greens supporters or to learn more about where Bates stands.
“It ultimately comes down to what you think the role of government should be. The more crazy and radical thing to do is to think everything is fine,” Bates says.
