Richard Di Natale is reserving judgment on new PM Turnbull
Richard Di Natale is shocked at Labor’s opposition to the Medicare review and believes the party may be reducing its chances of gaining genuine leverage by continually opposing government policies.
“This is everything that’s wrong with politics. Here we have got an opportunity to improve the health system. The evidence is very clear about where we need to make changes, and I think they saw a political advantage rather than putting policy first.”
More and more these days, the Greens seem open to negotiations with both major parties on policy initiatives and, although it seems Mr Di Natale is coming to the party when it comes to Liberal policies, he’s making no bones about what he hopes to gain for all Australians in the process.
Di Natale has written to Mr Turnbull, outlining the Greens’ priorities, which, at this stage, is to pull asylum seeker children out of detention centres, and to allow Coalition MPs a conscience vote on marriage equality.
He has also called on the Government to discuss superannuation system reforms and to abolish negative gearing and the fuel tax credit.
On top of that, the Greens’ leader is hoping Mr Turnbull will take a more realistic approach to climate change.
“If the Prime Minister is genuinely interested in ditching the mind-numbing three-word Coalition slogans, in having a mature debate about the direction of this country, I welcome that,” he said. “Eventually, though, he’ll need to put some meat on those bones. It’s one thing to talk a good game on climate change, on marriage equality. It’s another thing altogether to deliver on those things.”
Do you think Mr Di Natale’s requests will fall on deaf ears? Or do you feel that the new blood leading both parties can work together for a mutually beneficial outcome? What do you think of Richard Di Natale?
Mr De Natale passed the pension taper rate changes through the senate unchanged after Scott Morrison leaned on him
I hope all the potential greens voters remember that in the next election