Terence Steele, Greens candidate By Catherine Watson
TERENCE Steele is a back room operator, not a front man. Organising is his thing, but someone has to be the Greens candidate for Monash and he’s volunteered this time round.
“I had to compete against that perennial candidate, number two, which is Seek Further Candidate,” he jokes. “I thought I'll do the right thing. I think it's very important that the Greens stand in every seat because it helps getting votes for the Senate.”
“There's a mathematical possibility of being elected. But when you hear your footy team has a mathematical chance of reaching the finals, you know you’re cactus.”
TERENCE Steele is a back room operator, not a front man. Organising is his thing, but someone has to be the Greens candidate for Monash and he’s volunteered this time round.
“I had to compete against that perennial candidate, number two, which is Seek Further Candidate,” he jokes. “I thought I'll do the right thing. I think it's very important that the Greens stand in every seat because it helps getting votes for the Senate.”
“There's a mathematical possibility of being elected. But when you hear your footy team has a mathematical chance of reaching the finals, you know you’re cactus.”
Steele’s main aim this election is not to leak too many Greens votes. At the 2022 election, Mat Morgan got 9.86 per cent of the primary vote, a swing to the Greens of 2.7 per cent. This time round Monash is such a tight election, with four genuine contenders, that the Greens primary vote is bound to fall. Steele just wants it not to fall too much. Because he has big plans for the future of the Greens in Monash.
“My aim was to get to know the people in the local organisation and the people who are open to the idea of caring for the environment and caring for each other. And try and build an organisation that, say, in three years’ time, has people who will knock on doors and put up posters and things like that.
“That's what I'll be doing. I've actually got a person in mind I want to ask to stand next time. She doesn't know it yet.”
At this stage Steele is a part-time Monash resident. He and his wife divide their time between a little house in the city and a little house on a small patch of land in South Kardella. After a lifetime in teaching and IT, he describes himself as “semi-retired” but is currently working almost full-time in a scrap metal recycling business. Work has interfered with campaigning but he plans to take off the last couple of weeks and knock on as many doors as he can, starting with the people he knows around Kardella.
Until 15 years ago, Steele’s involvement in politics was making democracy sausages at the polling booth where his daughter went to school. One election he got talking to a man handing out how to vote cards for the Greens and discovered he lived on Phillip Island and he'd been coming up to Melbourne every day for a fortnight campaigning. And he'd been on the gate all day on election day.
When Steele asked him why he said, “I want to leave a better world for my grandchildren”.
It resonated with Steele, who had a couple of grown children. He joined his local branch of the Greens. “A year later I was basically campaign manager in the electorate I lived in at the time. My aim was to get one A-frame on every booth and a volunteer all day on the booth, which I almost succeeded in. I think I missed out one two-hour period.”
Steele has always been a gardener and says he’s become acutely aware of the impacts of climate change. “They're small changes, but a big indicator of serious things.”
Over years of campaigning for others, he discovered that he enjoyed door knocking because you could have some good conversations. He hasn’t had a lot of angry responses while door knocking but he has been abused while handing out at polling booths. “Interestingly, the first people that come to assist you in that situation are the volunteers for the other parties.”
Traditionally the Greens do a lot better in the city than they do in rural and regional areas, but Steele believes there’s an affinity between people who work on the land and environmentalists. “A friend who works with farmers says they’re all environmentally conscious but you just can't call them greenies.”
READERS’ QUESTIONS
How does Australia move on with indigenous recognition after the failed referendum?
The result was devastating and it’s put us back a long way. After all that's happened to First Nations people all they wanted was for us to listen to them. My opinion is that unless we listen to First Nations people, we're stuffed.
How hard would it be for you to follow the Green party line?
Not very hard. I think the great thing about the Greens is that they practise democracy internally. It's a grassroots party and you can put up your ideas and people will either agree or disagree.
What about preferences?
The local members will decide what we should do. I have a voice, but it’s just the same as every other member of the Greens in Victoria.
Do you consider the government's emissions reduction target of 43% by 2030 to be too low, too high or about right?
Too low. Climate change is the biggest calamity that's faced humankind in a thousand years. We're on track to make half the land surface of the earth unlivable. If you listen to the two leaders giving their budget speeches, I don't think either of them mentioned 1.5 degrees or the Paris Accord. They're gaslighting the population by not talking about it.
Do you believe carbon credits are effective in protecting the environment?
Not the way it's done here, no, it's too open to abuse.
What steps would you take to tackle coastal erosion in the Monash electorate.
The last time the sea rose significantly, it rose five metres in one lifetime, and that happened about 20,000 years ago. Rock walls, textile bags, etc, will work for a little bit, but we must be prepared that at some stage the water's going to rise significantly. I used to think it would be in my grandchildren's lifetime, but I think it may be sooner than that.
Do you believe nuclear should be part of Australia's energy mix?
The experts say that Australia is very lucky in that we don't need nuclear. The big argument for nuclear is that it fills in the gaps when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow. A group called Beyond Zero Emissions worked out that to replace all stationary power, electricity generation, with renewable sources would cost $5 to $10 per week per house. If we'd done something when we should have, we'd be looking at paying an extra $10 a week, which is way less than we're paying now.
Given rising power costs, what would you do to keep manufacturing competitive and household power bills affordable?
There's no doubt that coal and gas or coal has been the cheapest source of power, but only because the people that generate the power aren't paying for the damage that the coal, the CO2, causes.
What would you do to help low-income people afford housing?
We've had rent capping before and I think it makes a lot of sense in the short term. But here are structural problems with the housing market. There's a quote that it's easier to buy your tenth house than it is to buy your first house. It’s much harder when investors are competing with first time buyers. Housing should be seen as a basic necessity that everybody is entitled to. We have to build more social housing.
The moment one party tries to do something the other party sinks the boot into them, so it becomes impossible for either party to do anything. That's why I think a vote for the Greens is a vote for breaking that duopoly.
You hear this folksy phrase, borrow from the bank of mum and dad, which is really a folksy way of saying we've turned Australia into a country of the landed gentry. If you sort out the structural issues, the housing will follow.
Should Australia pull out of the AUKUS Alliance?
I don't think so, but we mustn't give away our sovereignty either. I think we should actually build our own independence.
Should Australia raise defence spending to 3% of GDP?
Possibly, yeah. Do we need to be more independent than we are? Probably.
Should Australia continue to provide military and other support to Ukraine?
I don't know that we should be sending soldiers there to fight, but I think we should continue to support them.
Candidate responses have been edited for clarity and length.
Greens election policies: https://greens.org.au/platform
“My aim was to get to know the people in the local organisation and the people who are open to the idea of caring for the environment and caring for each other. And try and build an organisation that, say, in three years’ time, has people who will knock on doors and put up posters and things like that.
“That's what I'll be doing. I've actually got a person in mind I want to ask to stand next time. She doesn't know it yet.”
At this stage Steele is a part-time Monash resident. He and his wife divide their time between a little house in the city and a little house on a small patch of land in South Kardella. After a lifetime in teaching and IT, he describes himself as “semi-retired” but is currently working almost full-time in a scrap metal recycling business. Work has interfered with campaigning but he plans to take off the last couple of weeks and knock on as many doors as he can, starting with the people he knows around Kardella.
Until 15 years ago, Steele’s involvement in politics was making democracy sausages at the polling booth where his daughter went to school. One election he got talking to a man handing out how to vote cards for the Greens and discovered he lived on Phillip Island and he'd been coming up to Melbourne every day for a fortnight campaigning. And he'd been on the gate all day on election day.
When Steele asked him why he said, “I want to leave a better world for my grandchildren”.
It resonated with Steele, who had a couple of grown children. He joined his local branch of the Greens. “A year later I was basically campaign manager in the electorate I lived in at the time. My aim was to get one A-frame on every booth and a volunteer all day on the booth, which I almost succeeded in. I think I missed out one two-hour period.”
Steele has always been a gardener and says he’s become acutely aware of the impacts of climate change. “They're small changes, but a big indicator of serious things.”
Over years of campaigning for others, he discovered that he enjoyed door knocking because you could have some good conversations. He hasn’t had a lot of angry responses while door knocking but he has been abused while handing out at polling booths. “Interestingly, the first people that come to assist you in that situation are the volunteers for the other parties.”
Traditionally the Greens do a lot better in the city than they do in rural and regional areas, but Steele believes there’s an affinity between people who work on the land and environmentalists. “A friend who works with farmers says they’re all environmentally conscious but you just can't call them greenies.”
READERS’ QUESTIONS
How does Australia move on with indigenous recognition after the failed referendum?
The result was devastating and it’s put us back a long way. After all that's happened to First Nations people all they wanted was for us to listen to them. My opinion is that unless we listen to First Nations people, we're stuffed.
How hard would it be for you to follow the Green party line?
Not very hard. I think the great thing about the Greens is that they practise democracy internally. It's a grassroots party and you can put up your ideas and people will either agree or disagree.
What about preferences?
The local members will decide what we should do. I have a voice, but it’s just the same as every other member of the Greens in Victoria.
Do you consider the government's emissions reduction target of 43% by 2030 to be too low, too high or about right?
Too low. Climate change is the biggest calamity that's faced humankind in a thousand years. We're on track to make half the land surface of the earth unlivable. If you listen to the two leaders giving their budget speeches, I don't think either of them mentioned 1.5 degrees or the Paris Accord. They're gaslighting the population by not talking about it.
Do you believe carbon credits are effective in protecting the environment?
Not the way it's done here, no, it's too open to abuse.
What steps would you take to tackle coastal erosion in the Monash electorate.
The last time the sea rose significantly, it rose five metres in one lifetime, and that happened about 20,000 years ago. Rock walls, textile bags, etc, will work for a little bit, but we must be prepared that at some stage the water's going to rise significantly. I used to think it would be in my grandchildren's lifetime, but I think it may be sooner than that.
Do you believe nuclear should be part of Australia's energy mix?
The experts say that Australia is very lucky in that we don't need nuclear. The big argument for nuclear is that it fills in the gaps when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow. A group called Beyond Zero Emissions worked out that to replace all stationary power, electricity generation, with renewable sources would cost $5 to $10 per week per house. If we'd done something when we should have, we'd be looking at paying an extra $10 a week, which is way less than we're paying now.
Given rising power costs, what would you do to keep manufacturing competitive and household power bills affordable?
There's no doubt that coal and gas or coal has been the cheapest source of power, but only because the people that generate the power aren't paying for the damage that the coal, the CO2, causes.
What would you do to help low-income people afford housing?
We've had rent capping before and I think it makes a lot of sense in the short term. But here are structural problems with the housing market. There's a quote that it's easier to buy your tenth house than it is to buy your first house. It’s much harder when investors are competing with first time buyers. Housing should be seen as a basic necessity that everybody is entitled to. We have to build more social housing.
The moment one party tries to do something the other party sinks the boot into them, so it becomes impossible for either party to do anything. That's why I think a vote for the Greens is a vote for breaking that duopoly.
You hear this folksy phrase, borrow from the bank of mum and dad, which is really a folksy way of saying we've turned Australia into a country of the landed gentry. If you sort out the structural issues, the housing will follow.
Should Australia pull out of the AUKUS Alliance?
I don't think so, but we mustn't give away our sovereignty either. I think we should actually build our own independence.
Should Australia raise defence spending to 3% of GDP?
Possibly, yeah. Do we need to be more independent than we are? Probably.
Should Australia continue to provide military and other support to Ukraine?
I don't know that we should be sending soldiers there to fight, but I think we should continue to support them.
Candidate responses have been edited for clarity and length.
Greens election policies: https://greens.org.au/platform