The party cites four core values, namely ecological sustainability, social justice, grassroots democracy and peace and non-violence.Key people involved in these campaigns included Bob Brown and Christine Milne, who went on to contest and win seats in the Parliament of Tasmania and eventually form the Tasmanian Greens.The formation of the federal party in 1992 brought together over a dozen green groups, from state and local organisations, some of which had existed for 20 years.Margetts lost her seat in the 1998 federal election, leaving Brown as the sole Australian Greens senator.The Greens opposed the Howard Government's Pacific Solution of offshore processing for asylum seekers, and opposed the bipartisan offers of support to the US alliance and Afghanistan War by the government and Beazley Opposition in the aftermath of the 11 September terrorist attacks in 2001, describing the Afghanistan commitment as "warmongering".In the 2004 federal election the Australian Greens fielded candidates in every House of Representatives seat in Australia.This won them two additional Senate seats, taken by Christine Milne in Tasmania and Rachel Siewert in Western Australia, bringing the total to four.In 2009, the Greens sided with the Liberal Party to defeat Labor's emission trading scheme legislation.The 2010 federal election marked a high point for the Greens electorally with the party receiving its largest vote to date and sharing the balance of power.The new senators were Lee Rhiannon in New South Wales, Richard Di Natale in Victoria, Larissa Waters in Queensland, Rachel Siewert in Western Australia, Penny Wright in South Australia and Christine Milne in Tasmania.[20] Almost two weeks after the election, the Greens agreed to support a Gillard Labor minority government on confidence and supply votes.On 24 February 2011, in a joint press conference of the "Climate Change Committee" – comprising the Government, Greens and two independent MPs – Prime Minister Gillard announced a plan to legislate for the introduction of a fixed price to be imposed on "carbon pollution" from 1 July 2012[28] The carbon price would be placed for three to five years before a full emissions trading scheme is implemented, under a blueprint agreed by a multi-party parliamentary committee.At the 2014 Australian Senate special election in Western Australia the Greens won in excess of a quota with the primary vote increasing from 9.5 to 15.6 percent, re-electing Scott Ludlam.In December 2015, the Greens struck a deal with the Coalition Government, passing a law requiring multinational private companies with a turnover over $200 million to disclose their tax arrangements and also making it mandatory for multinational companies with a global turnover of $1 billion or more to have to prepare "general purpose" financial statements, which disclose greater tax details than previously occurred in Australia.[32] The following year the Coalition Government and the Greens agreed on a permanent 15% tax rate for backpackers, in exchange for a $100 million funding boost to environmental stewardship not-for-profit Landcare.The result was seen as disappointing, and caused internal divisions to flare up, with former Federal Leader Bob Brown calling upon Senator Lee Rhiannon to resign, citing the "need for renewal".[35][36] Subsequently, Adam Bandt and Rachel Siewert were named as temporary co-deputy leaders until the arrival of Ludlam and Waters' replacements in Canberra.The party retained the federal electorate of Melbourne with Adam Bandt sitting at a 71.8% two-party preferred vote.Three key seats were targeted by the Greens in Victoria, including Kooyong, Higgins and Macnamara.[41] Prominent barrister Julian Burnside, who stood for Kooyong, came close to unseating treasurer and deputy Liberal leader Josh Frydenberg, falling short by 5.7% in the two-party preferred vote.[45] Bandt claimed that polling suggests a hung parliament is a likely outcome and the Greens would work with Labor to "kick the Liberals out and make the next government go further and faster on climate action, and make billionaires and mining corporations pay their fair share.The charter of the Australian Greens identifies four main pillars as the party's policy: "social justice", "sustainability", "grassroots democracy" and "peace and non-violence".Most notably, the party favours environmentalism, including expansion of recycling facilities; phasing out single-use plastics; conservation efforts; better water management; and addressing species extinction, habitat loss and deforestation in Australia.[48] The Greens strongly support efforts to address climate change based on scientific evidence, by transitioning away from the burning of fossil fuels to renewable energy production in the next decade, as well as reintroducing a carbon price.[48] In terms of agricultural policy, the party believes in phasing out caged egg production and sow stalls, instead favouring ethical farming practices.The Greens strongly support community-driven decision-making processes as a means by which soil and water degradation can be addressed.[53] Support for farmers experiencing the effects of climate change through droughts, and soil and water degradation has been expressed by the Greens.On economic issues, the Greens oppose tax cuts that solely benefit the top bracket of income earners and lead to socioeconomic inequality and believe that all essential services need to be adequately funded to suit community needs; and argue for the recreation of a publicly-owned bank.[54] The party supports the implementation of a Green New Deal, which entails investment in renewable energy technology and a revitalisation of Australian manufacturing, as economic stimulus.To support the transition to clean energy, the party calls for growth in lithium mining.[56] The Greens have also proposed plans to boost jobs and apprenticeships in the construction of public housing units as further economic stimulus as well as to address rising homelessness in Australia.Green politicians have campaigned on free undergraduate university (for the first three years) and TAFE, paid for by ending tax avoidance and fossil fuel subsidies.All policies originating from this structure are subject to ratification by the members of the Australian Greens at National Conference.The various Australian states and territories have different electoral systems, all of which allow the Greens to gain representation.Three Greens have become ministers at the state/territory level: Nick McKim and Cassy O'Connor in Tasmania until 2014, and Shane Rattenbury in the ACT to the present.A variety of working groups have been established by the National Council, which are directly accessible to all Greens members.The Greens generally draw support from younger voters with higher than average educational attainment.Much like the Democrats, the Greens have a higher proportion of supporters who are university educated, under 40, identify as professionals in their field, are small business owners, and earn above the national average wage.For the 2015-2016 financial year, the top ten disclosed donors to the Greens were: Graeme Wood ($500,000), Duncan Turpie ($500,000), Electrical Trades Union of Australia ($320,000), Louise Crossley ($138,000), Anna Hackett ($100,000), Pater Investments ($100,000), Ruth Greble ($35,000), Minax Uriel Ptd Ltd ($39,800) and Chilla Bulbeck ($30,000)
