POWER WITHOUT GLORY: Greens Party Bosslord Greg Barber Carves Up Internal Opponents Leaving Him Its Unchallenged Supreme Leader

In a frightening example of left-on-left violence, Greens party power junkie Greg Barber MLC has axed three long-term Greens party Yarra councillors in an unprecedented power grab within that once hippy now creepy extreme left-wing organisation.

Yarra Councillors Gurm Sekhon, Jenny Farrar and Kathleen Maltzahn were all put to the blade in preselection bloodshed last week with Sekhon and Farrar put in unwinnable positions in their wards and Maltzahn dumped completely.

GREG BARBER MBA MLC WIELDS THE BLADE

The Greens leader Greg Barber is notorious for saying "The Greens are just a brand, it doesn't matter what our policies are or who our candidates are" was the one who made the move, imposing his own candidates at the top of Greens party tickets for the Yarra elections due in November.

One close Greens party observer told the OC this morning "This is a victory for Stalinism over Trotskyism within the Greens. Barber has used his clout and office resources to build his own power-base. All those who opposed him in the past have suddenly become a politically endangered species."

DENIAL IS A RIVER IN EGYPT

While Barber has denied being involved in the massacre, his fingerprints are all over it.

Gurm's replacement, Sam Gaylard (mocking his name would be the height of political incorrectness) works as one of Barber's electorate officers and principal numbers-man. The candidate pole-axing Jenny Farrar is Amanda Stone, a close adviser to Barber who according to the Melbourne Times "worked on Mr Barber's campaign in the 2006 state election."

The candidate with Kathleen Maltzahn's blood on her hands is the Greens party supremo and state co-ordinator Alison Clarke, who is another Barber faction hard-head.

Barber is simply in a different league from all those who oppose him within his naive party. He is obsessed with winning and determined to clear out all those like Gurm Sekhon who have opposed him in the past, even publicly referring to Barber as a "cowboy".

BARBER'S VICTIMS REMAIN SILENT

What would have once been unimaginable, the wholesale clearing out of every Greens party candidate now occurs with barely a whimper of protest from his victims. Darth Barber is happy to exercise power with more brute force than even the most blood-thirsty of Labor numbers-men.

Even more curiously his victims are silent, with even their supporters being too scared to speak out to the OC this morning.

Sekhon compliantly told the puzzled local press, in the style of the re-educated Winston from Orwell's 1984:

"No one gets to play centre half-forward for the whole life. I am and always will be a team player."

Gurm Sekhon is not the OC's cup of tea politically, but clearly is a popular bloke in his community, with a cult level of support in some circles. The other victims of Barber's blade are lower profile but made the mistake of being opposed to the Barber faction.

THE WAYS OF STALIN

They Greens party have evolved in a highly controlled, secretive and Stalinist organisation, despite its hippy left origins. Barber's supporters say that under the old culture, the organisation was disorganised, nearly insolvent a couple of times and incapable of building on the popular support for at least the part of their policies that dealt with environmental protection.

His foes acknowledge the mistakes of the past but wonder how long it will take for Greens party supporters to learn that the organisation they're voting for is not a collective of worthy hippies trying to save the world but a tightly wound, disciplined, exclusive, Stalinist cadre intent on gaining as much power as possible for ultra-left causes while trading on what Greg Barber himself refers to in commercial language of a "brand".

Game on.

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PRIVACY ALERT: Greens MP Dumps Constituent Secrets On Publicly Accessible Hard Drive // Refuses to Comment

Greens party upper house MP Colleen Hartland has saved confidential information belonging to constituents on all-access public folder accessible to every member of Parliament, any employee of state Parliament House with access to a  PC, every electorate office and indeed anyone obtaining access to a PC in the state Parliamentary Library.

The Herald Sun's Ellen Whinnett has exclusively revealed the bungle, which details a scandal where Greens party MP Hartland has quite possibly breached her statutory and common law obligations to protect the privacy and confidentiality of private information she is entrusted with by the public.

THE GUTLESS WONDER

Curiously the Greens party MP has gone to ground, refusing to comment on the issue and instead sending the chivalrous colleague, red-knob knight Sir Greg of Barber in on his steed in to rescue the big damsel in distress. How pathetic. He faced the dilemma facing many a cattle owner when confronted with one of his big cows stuck in the mud, do you shoot it or save it. Fortunately for those wishing to avoid a by-election, he waded into to try to save the beast.

But Barber surely misses the point that it's Hartland who owes an explanation to the public for what goes on in her office. No one else.

The disgraceful episode also reveals the patronising attitude taken by the Greens party to constituents with her instruction to "a Greens (party) staffer... to write a 'blando all-purpose response' to anyone writing to the Greens (party) about stem cell research" regardless of the content of the constituents' request.

ELLEN WINS AGAIN

Whinnett, who clearly shades The Age's Paul Austin in covering events in Spring Street, reveals that the secret documents left for hundreds to see even show that the upper house Greens party MP has employed staff in electorate office with drug convictions and later wrote them a reference. The documents reveal that the MP doesn't give a "flying ...." about the drugs laws she's elected to legislate. Why aren't we surprised?

If this was a Liberal/Labor staffer, and the article in the Age newspaper, a broadsheet that dwells purely in the gutter/sewer of public discourse, it would have been a "gotcha" moment. In the Herald Sun, it's dealt with in proportion.  How disappointingly responsible.

Game on.

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SMASHED SUNDAY: Greens Party Is Over In By-Election Bust

In an astonishing coup for Premier John Brumby and his ALP strategists led by Stephen Newnham, the Greens party have been humiliated in a spectacular by-election double disaster.

CRUNCH THOSE NUMBERS

Consider this analysis after looking at the booth by booth numbers [XLS].

If you distribute the Liberal vote from 2006 (assuming the Liberal preferences between Labor and Green were the same as they were in the four state seats where they were distributed in 2006 election - the only data available on this phenomenon), Albert Park was an ALP 52-53% 2PP seat against the Greens on the 2006 numbers.

The by-election results yesterday had Labor on 57.2% against the Greens. So an astounding 5% swing away from the trendy lefty Greens in a very affluent trendy left area full of Saab owners, Age readers and lefty latte sippers. On a recent visit down to Bridport Street Albert Park, I spied Steve Vizard holding court at Brown's bakery while former ALP branch member now Hulls appointed President of the Victorian Court of Appeal Chris Maxwell strolled by with his shopping in hand. Albert Park's coolness will long survive any of the hot air hooey about global warming. When I stopped for a latte of my own, I overheard endless talk of "scripts in development", "arts grants" and holistic medicine whatever that is.  A 5% swing  in an area like that to an outer suburban and regional Victorian dominated Labor moderate government that's been in office for eight years. Excuse me? How is this possible?

Distributing Liberal preferences in Williamstown would take Labor's vote to 69% on 2006 numbers and is just over 64% in the by-election. There was much less of an energetic contest in Williamstown as it was regarded as a very safe Labor seat by both sides. No doubt if the Greens were subject to the same campaign in Williamstown they would have suffered the same consequences.

AMAZING 5% SWING AWAY FROM GREENS FROM 2006 RESULTS

All the serious feudin' and the left-on-left violence we love so much was in Albert Park. And the results were indeed amazing.

Labor got this amazing result by doing one thing: holding their opponents in the Greens party to account for their occasionally extremist policies and the conduct of their MPs. Yes, they ran a nice message about the government's strengths but what really focused the mind in a way that only so-called "negative campaigning" can was what the differences were between Labor and the Greens.

Their policies on the environment are extreme but are usually accepted by many voters who should know better. But on a range of economic and social issues, the Greens have an ultra-left agenda imposed by the former communists and socialists in their ranks and high command.

So, John Brumby's first election test has seen his leadership endorsed emphatically against an alternative of Greens extremism and hypocrisy, exposed in a stunningly successful ALP campaign of accountability and scrutiny of the Greens manifesto and their parliamentary conduct.

Led by patriot Stephen Newnham despite savage resistance from the Gavin Jennings part of the Socialist Left faction and other cranks like Henk van Leeuwen, ALP Head Office rolled out the best government by-election result in living memory. Not since 1982 has a state government had as favourable a result, Labor insiders told the OC.

GOING THE GREENS

It was an unorthodox yet clearly thoroughly researched strategy that attracted the criticism of many leftards in the ALP who basically believe that it's better to lose seats to the Greens than dare criticise them in any way.

The Greens party had adopted the right tactics initially in response to being criticised which was not to do anything that drew further attention to the criticism.

GREGGY SNAPPED, CRACKLED AND POPPED

But something snapped in Greens de facto leader Greg Barber who has been dubbed "Mini-Me" to the "Dr Evils in the Liberal Party" in a highly successful billboard campaign across inner-city Melbourne.

He suddenly summoned all television networks out to one of the amusing billboards that reminded voters of the fact that he and his comrades were voting 68% of the time with the Liberal Party. Ironically, when the billboard was launched, one channel made mention of it. When Barber attacked it, it was publicised on every news broadcast into Melbourne that night.

It was nothing less than crazy. And this from a guy who bludgeons dissenters in the Greens by implying everyone else is stupid because he does "data-driven analysis" suggesting that others don't.

The bizarre tactic was an attempt to muddy the waters about his and the Greens party voting record but it backfired horrendously because it provoked even more analysis and discussion of why they were voting with the Liberals so often. Clearly ideological differences were being ignored for cynical political reasons. And equally clearly, fickle and fussy Greens party voters didn't like it all.

Greens insiders tell the OC that the already highly negative reaction to what the Greens MLC's had been up to intensified to a frenzy after Barber's stunt as he had inadvertently reinforced Labor's message.

Not to be outdone, he then went on a jihad about an ALP direct mail piece from a Mac.Robertson Girls High School alumnus who just happened to work for a company that once did some work for the ALP.

GREG PUNK'D

Greggy Barber googled her name, excitedly discovered she worked for the ALP's pollster and then rang over a dozen journalists (some of them four times) to get the word out about Labor's direct mail. Paul Austin, Josephine his wife and Jon Faine didn't need four calls, they were straight into making it the biggest issue of the campaign. Even The Age ran a leader article saying it was enough to justify voting Greens.

One problem. The direct mail was about the undeniable fact that Greens policy would lead to a school - the best performing one in the state - being closed. And that school was in the Albert Park electorate.

It went from being an issue Labor was trying to get traction on into a firestorm of attention and analysis. Why were the Greens trying to shut the school? What did their policy say? Did Greg Barber deny it? Was Labor playing dirty by drawing attention to Greens party policies on axing selective entry government schools that offer gifted students a programme uniquely suited to them?

DENY, DENY, DENY

Barber denied it all. But even one of the Greens' three media stooges, Jon Faine on the ABC, stood him up and confronted him on it.

The exchange, much to Barber and Faine's horror, was partly reproduced in a full colour ALP persuasion mail piece that was produced in what must have been record time on the Tuesday to have been printed and arrived in Thursday morning's mail. It was a brutal and entirely accurate summary of Greens Party policy on selective schools like Mac.Robertson Girls High.

BRING ENOUGH GUN TO GET THE JOB DONE

In the world of political hunting, one must bring enough gun to get the job done. And that clever little mailing was the final blast that killed the Greens campaign stone dead.

Distractions like who get the second last preference on an ALP ticket where the preferences were never going to be distributed and the Henk the Crank email that was leaked by a prominent member of the Socialist Left from the Jennings sub-faction, never really got a look in.  The twin towers of the Greens 68% Liberal voting record and the Greens policy of shuttering the government's best performing school emerged very clearly as the two dominant issues on the horizon through the low level dust of candidate-it is, Greens party whining and left-wing press beat-ups.

It was an incredibly poor performance from the Greens party, as their cheer squad member Paul Austin in The Age noted on Saturday:

And the downside of the Victorian Greens' policy of no leader was exposed as they struggled to present a clear and concise response to Labor.

HOW THE GREENS COULD HAVE ROLLED

They had at least two great issues to motivate voters about and did very little with them. The Port Phillip Bay dredging and the prospect of a night Grand Prix. If Greg Barber had the political smarts he thinks he has, the by-election in Albert Park would have been dominated by these issues. Instead, he consciously chose to amplify the ALP's message by attacking the messenger, by claiming any scrutiny of the Greens party was somehow a "dirty trick."

Bizarre.

And the result, a total repudiation of the Victorian Greens by electors in an area where high incomes and a high incidence of trendy left views gave them the perfect opportunity to win.

As we discussed earlier, with the Libs not running, in Albert Park, they needed a 2-3% swing on 2006 figures to win. Instead they went backwards by 5%. At a time when there was a highly public parliamentary inquiry into the awarding of the state's lottery monopoly and the role of an ALP connected lobbyist. At a time when the government had clocked up nearly eight years in office. At a time when voters had every reason to be annoyed with their local MP who'd only been elected on a four year term less than a year ago.

And despite all that, the Greens went backwards!

WHAT WENT WRONG

Greens de facto leader Greg Barber, desperate to spin the disaster, said informal votes and poor turnout was to blame.

The hopeless and hapless property tycoon Greens party candidate John Middleton was at least honest and admitted that Labor's campaign of scrutiny and accountability on the Greens had finished him:

But Greens candidate John Middleton said the main issue had been ALP tactics.
"The biggest issue has been the fact that the ALP has made themselves the issue with their negative campaigning — it has overshadowed the real issues," he said.

Was he reading from ALP Head Office talking points?

We seldom make predictions but we'd be willing to punt they won't be wheeling out this old clown again any time soon as a candidate. H

DEVASTATION IN GREENS RANKS

The Victorian Greens are - contrary to Barber's statements - privately devastated by the results, particularly in Albert Park. They had the wrong candidate, who was too old, with a track record in office tower property development he was desperate to hide. Greens scrutineers and booth workers were subdued and in some cases ashen faced according to observers as it became obvious from the voters initially then the ballot papers that their plans of winning Albert Park turning to non-recycled sewerage.

From the triumph of getting three candidates elected in the upper house in 2006 to the disaster of effectively having a swing against them in 2007 in a by-election that they should have won is a very long distance indeed.

The bottom line of this should be very clear: the Greens party emperor has no clothes. When subjected to beautifully executed scrutiny of the kind unleashed by the ALP head office's increasingly dynamic duo of Stephen Newnham and Kosmos Samaras (painful to admit in the latter's case) they were exposed for all the world to see for exactly what they are:

■Politically inept;

■Ideologically extreme; and

■Glass-jawed hypocrites.

SWEET SUNDAY

Sundays are always good. But for Liberal and Labor patriots across the nation who looked at this battle with great interest, there should be an extra spring in your step today. In a struggle where there were many tensions beneath the surface, freedom confronted evil hippy indulgence and humbug and walked away holding the prize of victory. It's a big message to people like Red Ted who've been playing footsie with the Greens party.

For once when stalking the Greens prey, despite a few nervous nellies begging for kid gloves, Labor finally brought enough gun to get the job done. And look at the results. On the subject of the Greens party we could self evidently write for many thousands of words and speak for many boring hours. But in this case, it's all in the numbers. A 5% swing away from a trendy left enviro party to an eight-year old state government in a trendy left enviro friendly seat.

Perhaps Labor's true believers think their 1993 federal election result was the "sweetest victory of all" but for Labor moderates who had to fight very hard internally to really be able to take the fight to the Greens, this must be surely be their sweetest and most thoroughly deserved victory of all.

Game on.

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WEIRD: The Madness of King Greg

With days to go before two by-elections, Victorian Greens party leader Greg Barber has puzzled political observers in the past week by drawing attention to the Greens party's:

■ 68% voting record with the Liberals and

■ little known policy of "phasing out" or shutting down MacRobertson Girls High School and Melbourne High.

LOCAL REVOLT

The OC understands from concerned local Greens activists that there is considerable disquiet about Barber's "interference" with their local campaign.

Their candidate, self-made man John Middleton is believed to be "furious"with Barber at the lack of support he's received as their candidate and at being lumbered with extremist policies about closing two government schools because they have "selective entry". Even the quotes he gave David Rood for The Age apparently had to be emailed for "vetting" by Greg Barber and were substantially re-written, we understand.

BARBER'S WATERLOO

On the Jon Faine ABC show this morning, normally a venue for patting the Greens party on the back, Greg Barber was eaten alive as he attempted to distinguish between his policy of "phasing out" the schools and closing them. It was a debacle.

He even made reference to where Faine went to school, but Faine cut him off saying "I went to Melbourne High" (one of the schools to be closed under Barber's policy). D'oh.

Under persistent questioning from Faine, Barber conceded that yes, Greens party policy was to shut selective entry schools.

Bizarrely, Barber denied it was his policy in today's Herald Sun. Double D'oh.

WHY DID GREGGY DO IT?

Barber is a political process junkie. Around here, we're inclined to forgive his addiction as it's one shared by many OC readers. But he persistently lets his tactical stunts get in the way of his strategy.

A TALE OF TWO OWN GOALS

Last week, he wanted to muddy the waters about the Greens party upper house voting record, something that is clearly hurting them in Albert Park. So he encouraged TV cameras down to an ALP billboard that presents him as the "Mini-Me" to the "Dr. Evils" in the Liberal Party. The muddying failed but what succeeded was him getting the billboard on all television nightly news.

And yesterday, he got suckered into doing a Google search on the name of a MacRob alumnus writing a letter to Albert Park electors about the Greens party policy of closing MacRob. He rang around the state political gallery like a demon dialler apparently, frothing at the mouth about the gotcha discovery that she worked for a company that was a supplier of polling to the ALP.

Trouble is, the woman was a particularly passionate advocate for her position when followed up by Jon Faine, bringing the issue of the Greens party policy of shutting MacRob sharply into focus.

POL POT WOULD BE PROUD

So Barber's stunt managed to bring attention to one of several extremist Greens party policies, that they want to shut a government school actually in the Albert Park electorate because it has a policy of "selective entry", ie you've got to pass exams to qualify for entry. The Greens party think this is elitist and that the only by dragging everyone down to one level can you have a fair society. It's a classic example of how the environmental agenda of the Greens party has been swamped by the agenda of the extreme left.

These are the debates the ALP initiated. And their pushing them only got them so far. Greg Barber made them rage. Now twice. Little wonder the local Greens candidate is refusing to talk with Barber.

Game on.

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USED: Greg Barber Cynically Exploits Islanders To Boost His Profile

In another age, highly entrepreneurial chaps Barnum and Bailey gathered together from all across the globe curiosities from all around the world to display to a public starved for knowledge.

The Age's favoured source for plagiarised material describes PT Barnum as a "showman who is best remembered for his entertaining hoaxes".

The equally entrepreneurial Greg Barber MBA who has turned his family business the Victorian Greens into what ALP boss Stephen Newnham labelled the "eBay Party" is now dabbling in a little Barnum and Bailey action of his own.

THE MOST CYNICAL SHOW ON EARTH

Scheduled for September 20, Comrade Barber is wheeling in two visitors from islands Barber says are being submerged because of global warming.

In a promotional email obtained by the OC, PT Barber invites all to:

Meet the worlds' first climate refugees from the Cartarets (sic)Islands

Ms Ursula Rakova from the NGO Tulele Peisa
Mr Bernard Tunim, an elder of Piul Island

1-2pm Thursday 20 September 2007
K Room Parliament House

a light lunch will be provided

The Cartaret Islanders are amongst the worlds' first "climate refugees".  Come to this forum to hear the first hand account of an entire cultural group facing relocation due to the impacts of climate change.

ONE BIG CON

Only trouble is the islands are not being flooded because of climate change.

The United Nations says the destruction of surrounding reefs by dynamite is actually the cause. The director of UN development project at Bougainville discussed the causes with the left-wing press:

Some authorities caution that the islanders might have brought their woes upon themselves by blasting reefs with dynamite to kill fish, thus removing natural barriers protecting the atolls.

...Fred Terry, the director of the United Nations Development Project on Bougainville, said the destruction of reefs in the Carterets with dynamite might be the cause there.

"During the Bougainville conflict people went to the atolls to get away from it," Mr Terry said. "The islanders had all these extra mouths to feed and needed more fish. They have a history as reef destroyers."

Mr Terry said the movement of tectonic plates could also be responsible. "None of this means they don't have a major problem."

Problems just compounded by being used by cynical, rich envirotards with their hoaxes, schemes and exploitations.

I hope they at least have the decency to give them some of the Greens party huge warchest or at least a chunk of the money Stephen Luntz saves by not buying soap.

Game on.

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GREG BARBER: A Lying Liar Who Lies

Upper house Greens party tsar Greg Barber totally lost the plot yesterday, attracting national media attention to the ALP's amusing billboard that highlights the irrefutable fact that his Greens party has voted with the Liberals in the Victorian upper house 68% of the time.

FROM MISSING IN ACTION TO JOHNNY RAMBO SHOOTING HIMSELF IN FOOT

He tried to muddy the waters yesterday after weeks of being silent and essentially going missing in the Albert Park and Williamstown by-election campaigns. Instead he managed to spin the wheels of Colleen Hartland's big 4WD in its big bog and sprayed more mud over the Greens party. In a bizarre exercise, Barber managed to persuade channels Seven, TEN and the ABC out to the billboard that highlights his embarrassment over his 68% Liberal voting record and then proceeded to vandalise it in full public view.

CRIMINAL DAMAGE

The legislator clearly failed to appreciate that the spray can attacks and his defacing of the billboard - a paid advertisement - almost certainly constitute criminal damage under s.197(1) of the Crimes Act in Victoria, an offence punishable by up to ten years imprisonment. A conviction would like to Greg not just losing his mojo but also his seat in Parliament. His crimes were mostly recorded by multiple television cameras that he invited to attend. D'oh.

BARBER'S BIZARRE SPIN: YOU NEED TO EAT THREE HASH COOKIES TO UNDERSTAND IT

Hilariously, Comrade Barber attempted spin his 68% Liberal voting record in Parliament by saying that if you count all motions that go through unopposed by everyone that this number changes. Well, yes but it changes for every party and produces highly misleading statistics that would suggest that all the parties agree on practically everything almost all the time.

He only wants to include "final votes" which excludes all the amendments, committee votes and many others they vote with their deal partners in the Liberal party. Because most legislation is uncontentious, churned out of the bureaucracy and rubber-stamped by the parliament, Greg Barber would have you believe that all the MPs are very much in hippy love, sitting around the bearpits of Victorian politics strumming the banjo and singing kumbayah.

What Barber can't explain to his base, won't explain to his members is that when there is a division in the Legislative Council, the Greens party MP's vote with the Liberal party 68% of the time in divisions. The Greens-Liberal-Deal website contains a spreadsheet which shows exactly what they've been up to.

THE GREENS LIBERAL DEAL

What Barber is ashamed to admit is that the Greens party entered into a sleazy preference deal with the Liberals that scored them conservative preferences in four inner urban seats in return for Greens split-ticket preferences in many outer suburban seats.

We have said it before and we'll say it again, Greg Barber is sowing the seeds of the Greens party's destruction. His sullen silence then spectacular outburst indicates that he is an angry and frustrated man.

He is reportedly very concerned that his activities in the Victorian Parliament might again undermine the efforts of his brother-in-law Dr Di Natale in getting elected, this time to the Australian Senate.

Greens insiders tell us they have been flooded with complaints and questions about their 68% Liberal voting record and that their explanations have not satisfied their fussy and fickle supporters. Good.

Game on.

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TSUNAMI RISING: The Victorian Greens Party Strategic Crisis

Am loving the fine work of the Greens-Liberal-Deal and the Greenswatch websites at the moment. In both, we see some really in your face analysis and investigation of just where this ultra left party in environmentalist clothing are up to. Astonishingly enough, even the left-wing press are asking questions about the Greens 68% voting record with the Liberals.

There's a real backlash tsunami that's just at the very beginning of formation, I reckon. A confusion that I keep hearing from rusted on Greens supporters about what the hell is going on in the Greens party in Victoria. Interestingly, it seems to break generationally too.

For example, when the more mature Greens Party comrade Bob Brown was put under the blowtorch last night on Lateline over whether he'd be doing a Greg Barber and throwing out Labor's proposals completely if they disagreed with particular aspects, he basically said no he wouldn't.

Brown realises that while that positioning must necessarily tactically reduce his capacity to bargain, as a matter of strategy it's smart. Can't do much if you don't get elected is not only the doctrine of Labor moderates and Tories. Bob Brown gets it so we are forced to wonder why MBA toting, day-trading para-militarist who loves the West Wing Greg Barber doesn't. It's all very odd. Barber talks sensibly and number crunches within the Greens like a Labor Right head-kicker (or indeed Tardis, thanks Senator Ray) yet acts like a sulking ultra-left windbag who is confused by all that surrounds him.

Whether you agree with Greens or Labor at all, I think we can agree that Brown's way is a politically sensible course. Perhaps someone should tell Greg Barber before the tsunami wipes him, the pixie-bell and Big Col off the red leather benches and into the freshly dredged Port Phillip Bay.

Highlights:

■ Greens-Liberal-Deal website probes the highly suspicious co-branding deal between the Greens and the Liberal party;

■ Greenswatch website exposes more and more kookiness in the Greens party, this time revealing the carnage Greens party councillors are causing in the Moonee Valley council;

■ Even The Age is getting in on the act, discussing the implications of the ultra-left Greens party voting with their notional opponents in the Liberal Party 68% of the time. It's an amazing stat, an amazing phenomenon. It's take your bat and ball and go home politics. It seems ALP insiders can't believe their luck about their approach. Some say that awareness of the Greens-Liberal collaboration and deals is being fuelled by the extent of tag-teamery seen at various Parliamentary committees, including the one dealing with Tatts, between the Greens and the Liberals. Many observers have noticed them acting in close concert, confirming the allegations they have faced about both doing a deal with a part of politics both would label as the "Devil". This is not a good look ultimately for either party, but particularly the Greens, whose stock in trade is purity. By the time Greg Barber is done sullying their brand, he'll be making Meg Lees look good.

Game on.

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WEB OF LIES: Greg Barber Suspiciously Ducks and Covers On Secret Domain Name // We Explain Why

Greg Barber, the upper house Greens MP has been accused by Greens insiders of being directly responsible for appropriating a Liberal Party brand and registering a "Bracks Broken Promises" domain name ahead of the two state by-elections on September 15.

We have noted previously that Greg Barber, while not being the officially elected leader of the three Greens party Victorian upper house members of parlyament, is their de facto boss by reason of the fact that he hogs all the media.

Prominence is power in this new era of celebrity. Even the least competent numbers-man can become unrivalled power-stud if he/she can get in the press enough. These are strange times. And Barber understands them very well while his two colleagues couldn't find their way out of the faerie garden even if supplied a map on recycled paper and a herbal powered compass.

BARBER THE MEDIA TART NOWHERE TO BE SEEN
And so it is that we must consider the unprecedented Greg Barber move of "going to ground" in failing to respond to questions from the left-wing press about his involvement with a web address "Bracksbrokenpromises.com". The story was headlined Greens linked to Libs in mischievous web address.

As the Age points out, the same brand was used by the Victorian Liberals at the last state election. And now anyone keying in that domain is taken immediately to a promotional page on the Victorian Greens party website talking up their out of town candidate for Williamstown and their serial failed candidate for Albert Park.

A strange thing to do, perhaps, but we are talking about the Greens party.

What happened when The Age caught them in the act?

The Greens spokesperson on the issue was not the usual steely Greg Barber. They wheeled out a Senator from another state, Tasmania, Senator Christine Milne. How odd I thought.

SECRETS REVEALED
So - as you do - I made further inquiries with one of our trusted Greens party sources who has given us the goss in the past on the nasty nest of vipers that is enviroleft politics. They explained there was good reason why Barber didn't speak on the issue. He had personally arranged - and paid for the domain with his own credit card - and didn't want to get caught directly lying to a journalist for fear they would punish him big-time if he was ever apprehended.

Just as well. Because the Greens party secrets tend to find a way of leaking, sometimes here. It is a near Stalinist, very unstable secret society, run by a power clique of Barber and DiNatale that is increasingly annoying the more herbal and hippy love starry eyed idealist membership. The ruthless shafting of Senate candidate David Risstrom, the tendency to monopolise power in the hands of a few and Barber's dictatorial approach to colleagues will probably guarantee that the steady drip of leaks become a tsunami that engulfs them all.

Game on.

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SECRET: Greenie Greg Barber Was "Scary, Ultra Right-Wing Nationalist" Say Former Classmates

De facto Victorian Greens leader Greg Barber was once an "ultra-conservative" militarist pre-occupied by battle re-enactments, war-games and para-military activities.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, students from his alma mater at Glen Waverley Secondary College have spoken out for the first time to the OC Investigations Unit with explosive revelations about the supposedly left-wing political leader who until now has lived a secret double life as an ultra right-wing war fantasist.

VERY RIGHT WING
One former Glen Waverley student and Barber classmate has spoken of their "absolute shock" when discovering their former study buddy with "ultra-nationalist, very right wing politics" was elected to the Victorian Parliament as a representative of the Greens.

Another has told tales on the one-time loner and ultra-conservative student, revealing his inclination to dress in "full military regalia" and frequently engage in battle re-enactments in a local park with a group of "scary" local right-wing para-militarists from a number of different schools.

SCARY
One described Barber as "weird, scary and someone we usually avoided. We were all a little bit scared of him. He was intense and not in a good way."

"I'd be amazed if voted any way other than Liberal when he first had a vote. No one I know at the school kept in contact with him so what happened to him after school is a mystery."

Those few who knew Barber well say that he was clearly looking "for a cause" but "none of us could have imagined it would be the environment. It's just weird. He was definitely disturbed back then, and I can't imagine he's changed."

"He was the kind of student who these days would definitely be lengthily counselled for fear of a Columbine style problem. He always seemed angry, morose and obsessed with weapons."

RIFLE-TOTING
Another classmate who has expressed grave concerns about Barber said "Knowing what I know of his past, it's with a rifle at the top of a tower that I expect to see him again not as head of the peace loving Greens. How tall is parliament house anyway?"

It's an amazing contrast to the policies and branding of the Greens. The OC's limited involvement with Barber certainly failed to trigger "lefty radar" of the kind normally sensitively attuned to detect Bolshevism wherever it might lurk.

These revelations which Barber will know are just the beginning certainly validate our initial judgment and his neo-Stalinist leadership style which has seen his "right-wing numbers man" approach vanquish his foes and install his brother-in-law in plum positions on the Greens ticket.

THE EXTREME GREEN
The revelations from former classmates also provide useful background to Barber's pre-occupation with Labor's factional politics, of which he makes frequent mention in his speeches, off and on-the-record comments to journalists and written communications to Greens members. He's been fanatically anti ALP for all his life it seems, once from the far right, now from the far left.

His later exploits include attending Melbourne Business School and imposing tight discipline on notionally equal colleagues, the robust Colleen Hartland and the more frivolous Sue Penniciuk. He has only recently permitted them to make media statements and only after he has closely vetted the drafts.

Like Bill Hartley before him, an extremist left-winger who started out as a Liberal and ended up in the extreme left, we see in Greg Barber confirmation that the extremes of politics are not greatly different, with plenty of people able to transition from extreme right to left with the greatest of ease.

Game on.

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SPRUNG: Greens Caught In Web of Deception

The Victorian Greens have been busted engaging in criminally misleading election advertising, involving the cyber hijacking of an an ALP website. Victorian Greens are all hot and flustered over the attacks on their secret deal with their stated political opponents in the Liberal Party.

The deal is simple: The Liberals give preferences in inner city lower house seats in return for Greens agreeing to split-ticket and preference to the Liberals in other marginals. Recent sweeteners that the Liberals appear to have demanded include votes on legislation and the appointment of Chairs of parliamentary committees. Very cosy.

But to the ultra left (and ultra right which is much the same anyway) purity is everything.

Having the curtain drawn back on their wicked arrangements and secret deals with the conservatives they pledge to oppose is a big worry with voters inside the Latte Curtain who vote for the Greens because they think the ALP is not left wing enough. Imagine their shock to discover the lefter, purer version of the promised land they voted for involves support for the right-winger Phil Davis, monarchist Gordon Rich-Phillips and opposing anti-nuclear power measures.

So the Greens have engaged in what is blatantly fraudulent advertising, almost certainly illegal in Australia, where it has bought a link on Google Adwords pretending to be the ALP's site which exposes the Greens-Liberal-Deal. It then cyber hijacks the reader to a Greens party site written by a Sean Hardy, a member of their politburo executive.

It's an extraordinary thing for them to do on a number of grounds. Firstly, it's a highly misleading and deceptive communication to voters, with all the potential criminal sanctions that flow. Secondly, it confirms that they are panicked about their secret deal with the Liberals coming to public attention.

2.36PM UPDATE: The swift stick of OC justice has been applied. Electoral authorities are believed to have ordered the Greens remove their highly misleading hijack advertisement. Instead the ALP now has an ad, not on a pay per click basis that will be a permanent reminder of the folly of "Greens strategists" (no doubt some hippy experiencing mid-life crisis and acid flashback simultaneously). Those searching on Greens Liberal Deal will find the website exposing Green antics. Those searching on Greg Barber will find the same. Those searching other phrases of relevance will find the same website. How amusing.

Game on.

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UNDER ATTACK: Greens Struggle To Explain Voting Record

The Victorian Greens are under siege over claims by the ALP they have betrayed their supporters by voting with the Liberal Party in the Legislative Council.

The left-wing press this morning reports on Labor's campaign to hold the Greens to account for the behaviour of the three Greens upper house MPs who have adopted some very strange tactics.

GREENS-LIBERAL-DEAL.COM
The probing website Greens-Liberal-Deal.com explores the Greens voting behaviour in the upper house and asks the big questions about why they have turned into what they call the "Mini-me's to the Dr Evils in the Liberal Party." They are even running an amusing competition into where their first promotional billboard should be deployed (click above).

Basically the Victorian Greens have made what many observers say is a simple strategic mistake. Ignoring the effect on thir brand, they have decided to vote down proposals in conjunction with the Liberal party if they are not perfectly to their satisfaction in all respects.

This is standard enough form in local government where it is common to vote with enemies to ultimately secure the outcome you want.

But in the Parliament, under the direction of the supposedly shrewd Greg Barber who instructs the butter wouldn't melt in her mouth Sue Pennicuik and the angry feministe Colleen Hartland Victorians have witnessed the strange phenomenon of seeing Greens vote down the lifting of taxes on hybrid cars in pursuit of extending a tax cut to a luxury car-barge that uses much more fuel than the average family sedan, voting for Liberal Party chairs of commmittees, voting against a plebiscite on nuclear power designed to put pressure on the federal government not to proceed with plans for nuclear power and several other curious decisions.

FROM MEG TO GREG
Greens party strategists fear that "Greg (Barber) could easily become our Meg Lees if he's not smarter than this." The OC understands that Federal Leader Bob Brown has grown increasingly concerned about the direction of the Victorian Greens, spending much time attempting to counsel Barber to focus on the "big picture".

Barber has told allies who have told the OC that he has struggled to make the transition from local government where you can see what needs to be done, assemble a majority and implement a solution to the Greens' role of gilded irrelevance where they get to sit in the red velvet chamber but actually have very little real input into anything.

The normally slick and well-rehearsed Barber struggles to communicate with his base about why it is that the Victorian Greens are voting with the Liberals 68% of the time, more so than supposedly ultra-conservative MP Peter Kavanagh of the DLP and the National party. His defence in The Age today about accountability doesn't explain most of their decisions and won't prevent the damage to the Greens brand which attracts them a considerable vote before they have to do anything.

TANNER EVERY REASON TO BE WORRIED
Labor is hopeful of its campaign paying off by helping fend off the Greens attack on the federal seat of Melbourne where Essendon supporter and coodabeen patriot Lindsay Tanner has every reason to be afraid and very afraid of a "surge" in the Greens vote, with the prospect of the Greens-Liberal-Deal delivering Liberal preferences to the Greens candidate once again.

Despite the apparent end to the drought, which clearly had very little if anything to do with global warming, the Prime Minister's use of "wedges" and the considerable increase in focus on environmental issues - particularly behind the latte curtain - means that Tanner has much to worry about. Tanner's only hope might be the dismal start the three overpaid underworked and strategically stupid local Greens MPs have made.

Game on.

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BOO HOO: Patriots Being Mean To Greens

The Greens in Victoria continue to scandalise the community.

On Sunday, the patriots at the Sunday Herald-Sun shockingly revealed that Greg Barber is employing an illicit drugs promoter on his staff. Perhaps he intends to replace fallen drugs tsar Tony Mokbel who appears to be a Greens voting fan of terrorist David Hicks.
And today, Greens-bashing patriot Ellen "Chainsaw" Whinnett has roasted the drug peddling Greens, exposing their contemptible and sleazy voting record in the Red Morgue. She has revealed a highly amusing and beautifully executed website Greens-Liberal-Deal.com.au, which appears to be the handiwork of patriot Stephen Newnham, State Secretary of the Victorian ALP.

Like Fat Tony, Ganja Greg's record finally appears to be catching up with him.

And also like Fat Tony, whose collection of luxury vehicles and jet skis wowed the nation, Ganja Greg appears intent on establishing his own collection of luxo-barges.

But he'd like his gas guzzling $122,000 Lexus hybrid which uses twice the amount of fuel than a normal family car "tax free" according to this highly pleasing website of patriotism. So furious was Ganja Greg's Greens that his tax cut for the rich like him was refused that they voted against all stamp duty cuts for hybrid cars in a politically stupid dummy spit.

There really is no end to Ganja Greg's villainy.

Game on.

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GREENSLEAZE: Terrible Trio Tarnish Greens Trademark

The Victorian Greens Legislative Councillors continue to struggle to find the way in the Red Morgue.

While cab sav socialist Evan Thornley's red face has practically merged with the lush red bordello-style velvet that adorns the chamber, the Greens continue to appear out of place, constantly acting awkwardly and clumsily.

Behind closed doors lies in an inner urban world of intense internal competition, petty jealousy and pathetic posing as their Supreme and yet unelected leader Greg Barber continues to put noses out of joint by insisting on being their sole media spokesman.

The conflict between the more pragmatic day-trader Greg Barber and the big eatin' ultra-leftist Colleen Hartland seems to grow by the day. We doubt she will survive another preselection on his watch.

BOB BROWN INTERVENES
Despite their internal crises, the Greens have been desperate to seek opportunities to vote with the Government in recent weeks. Bob Brown's office personally intervened after the nuclear plebiscite debacle, telling Barber he had to be smarter on his feet and not use his votes like he was on a local council. Brown's office retains faith in Barber, blaming his mistakes on his inexperience with politics beyond local government. One federal Greens insider who requested a copy of the Greg Barber "Darth Barber" graphic for his desktop told the OC that Barber was a "quick study" who was very unlikely to "give Labor any more free kicks like that."

They are now voting with the Liberals around 68% of the time and with the Government 32%, about the same as the Democratic Labor Party (who they denounced as ultra-right extremists) and the National Party (who were in Coalition with the Liberals in the last conservative state government). It is a voting record that threatens to destroy the Greens left "cred" when they next face election.

LABOR'S VIEW
One well-placed observer in the upper house told colleagues:

"Whilst some of the suggestions from the last Sitting Week on how this could be recorded on a (Greens) school report card were entertaining, they were generally unprintable. The consensus view was an "E", however."

OFTEN LICKED NEVER BEATEN
One splendid occasion though highlighted the default oppositionalist approach taken by Barber and his cronies. The source tells the story that a procedural motion was proposed by the government which would permit the Green to actually move their amendments to the Equal Opportunity Bill, their instinctive response was to sit with the Liberals until helpful Labor MLCs pointed-out that if they did not vote with Labor, they would actually be gagging themselves! And while many Greens may enjoy tying themselves up in the privacy of their own homes, this did seem a bit much.

BUG-EYED
Clearly the Greens enjoy the exotic erotica, as they expressed their support for erotic poet and porn potentate Bruce Atkinson, Liberal MLC who emerged successful in his quest to become Chair of the Legislation Committee. Their Sue "Woodchuck" Pennicuik found him a more acceptable candidate than failed, disgraced, dumped, shamed and bug-eyed former Local Government Minister Candy Broad whose two-bit inquiry into Geelong Council has finished her political career before it never get off the ground.

Barber, who is more bean-counter than self-flagellator, told one source that Broad had it coming because she "had ratted and votes with the Right" showing a degree of obsession/fascination with internal ALP processes that really does prove that he joined the wrong party.

And for that may we be truly thankful. Amen.

Game on.

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DARTH BARBER: Greens Leader Concerned About Damaged Greens Brand

Greg Barber, the right-wing numbers-man lost within the Greens, is clearly alarmed by the rising stench associated with his conduct in Victoria's upper house.

The LegCo Hansard records his pain:

On every vote the Greens have taken since the election — and some have been controversial — we have heard a mantra from the other side about the Greens voting with the Liberals. It is a trick, of course. (OC: The John Lenders spreadsheet of truth does not lie. It merely reflects the fact the Greens have voted with the Liberals more consistently than any other party. Greg Barber can run but cannot hide from that inconvenient truth)

Government members think that if they use the words ‘Green’ and ‘Liberal’ in a sentence often enough, they again will create some kind of general smell — a bit like what the Liberals are trying to do today. (OC: The smell comes from the Greens-Liberal preference deal, the smell comes from Stephen Luntz and the smell comes from a far left group voting consistently with the right in an attempt to gain sleazy political advantage)

It is a cheap trick and it only works on the gullible, which means that the government is certainly not going to peel any votes off the Greens with it, because the 10 per cent of voters who consistently vote Green in Victoria are obviously the most politically aware Australians. (OC: Oh my. Yeah all those folks with Greenpeace stickers on the fridge who don’t realize that logo is a trademark owned by a company in a tax haven, they’re real savvy. All those Greens voters who slavishly followed HTV tickets that put Family First and Liberals ahead of the ALP, clearly deep thinkers the lot of them. Puh-lease.)

Who would think that throwing this general stink around would lead to great slabs of the Green vote calving off like icebergs? (OC: Award for Mixed Metaphor here)
I think Labor has had such long a history of trying to peel 1 per cent or 2 per cent of the vote off the Liberal Party — obviously those people are gullible if they can be so easily shifted from Labor to Liberal — that it thinks the same bag of tricks will work on Green voters. (OC: No tricks are needed, don’t they just need to point to the Greens’ own voting record)

It is not going to happen. (OC: After losing the state seat of Melbourne despite being way in front during the campaign, it’s already happened, the Greens brand is being tarnished permanently by the antics of those running the Greens and they know it. The complaints about Barber’s de facto leadership have sky-rocketed since his Liberal-Green preference deal, the slaying of David Risstrom and their recent vote with the Liberals to block an anti-nuclear plebiscite measure)

But I will say that every single vote on which — according to Labor — the Greens have voted with the Liberals has related to an issue of transparency. (OC: Or dummy spitting, as evidenced in the nuclear debate)

They related either to the ability of the Parliament itself, or in other cases the public, to have an understanding or a better view of exactly what the government was up to. (OC: There’s a pretty good view once the haze of the stink clears of what the Greens are up to, they’re bringing the mindless stuntery of local government to Victoria’s Parliament and while it might be tactical fun, it’s strategic catastrophe. Every time Barber votes with the Liberals, it causes the Socialist Left incumbents in those inner city seats to breathe a sigh of socialist relief. Barber is letting them off the very big hook they were all on by tainting his own brand with the kind of sleazy deals he protests in others.)

Game on.

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COMMON GROUND: The Greens Shift To Adopt OC Policies

In less than a week, the Greens have:

■ Stopped an anti-nuclear plebiscite;

■ Proposed in Parliamentary Debate that the Hansard be renamed The Landeryou;

■ Endorsed apparently bikini wearing Greensbabe Larissa Waters over far-left deathbeast Juanita Wheeler;

■ Continued their strident criticism of Peter Garrett and

■ Moderated their fanatical anti-Israel policy.

Verily, in light of the above, I pledge that if the Greens go just a few small steps further and adopt the KFC Zinger Burger as their Official Party Snack, acknowledge the rights of the unborn and allow Pastor Danny Nalliah to baptise the Satanic Kerry "Omen" Nettle in the flowing waters of the Parliament House swimming pool the OC will make itself available to hand out HTVs for Bob Brown.

That does seem unlikely but their recent moves do show that if you keep hammering the nail eventually it will go into the piece of wood (freshly logged).

Game on.

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THE LANDERYOU: New Name For Hansard Proposed by Greens Numbers Man

In yesterday's heated Parliamentary debate on the Victorian Government's defeated anti-nuclear law, our fine publication was the subject of some discussion across the Red Morgue chamber.

Right-wing numbers-man and de facto Greens Leader Greg Barber has perhaps redeemed himself for all time by proposing that the Parliamentary Hansard be renamed The Landeryou, surely the most sensible policy proposal ever from the Greens party.



He was responding to our article earlier this week which revealed his intention to water down - with Liberal support - the anti-nuclear plebiscite bill with amendments designed to nobble the law.

Barber is clearly awestruck by the quality and magic powers of the OC and:

■ Correctly claims that we are "well informed about matters that move through this chamber". Hear Hear;

■ Acknowledges regularly reading our fine publication, via email, a service available to all readers who sign up for OC email;

■ Praises the OC and acknowledges that we have "witnesses" lurking in the Parliament, they prefer to be called members of the OC Investigations Unit but woteva;

■ Posits that "100 years from now the Hansard will be called the Landeryou", a delightful prospect we're sure that would please all Victorians and bind us together in healing and sharing.

From yesterday's Hansard:

Mr BARBER (Northern Metropolitan) — As we move into this stage I want to talk a bit about the approach of the Greens and where we have got to at this
point. I have already canvassed the nuclear policies of the Labor and Liberal parties extensively in the second-reading debate, so I will not do that again. I note that there was a contribution to this debate overnight by a Mr Landeryou. He is obviously well informed about matters that move through this chamber. (OC: Obviously)

Hon. T. C. Theophanous — Do you read it? (OC: Theo should have been a policeman really)

Mr BARBER — People email it to me, (OC: A guilty pleasure, but we're sure he only reads us for the articles not for the sultry pics of Greensbabe Larissa Waters) but since Parliament is not yet on the Internet — and the Greens think it should be — he must have been informed by a witness. I note that in the past the Hansard was only an unofficial newspaper of the Parliament and over time evolved into becoming the official record. Maybe 100 years from now the Hansard will be called the Landeryou; I do not know. (OC: Perhaps we have been too harsh on Mr Barber and his pro-nuke policies)

Mrs Peulich — You mean ‘Slanderyou’. (OC: No that'd be Erik Locke of CPR Communications and a CBD bar losing four grand a week. PoorInga Binga is still sore over our outing and necking of the raving racist Ken Aldred, former Peulich backed Liberal candidate for Holt)

This extraordinary contribution to the Parliamentary debate from a bruised Barber shows how sensitive the Greens are over their enviro-cred and how Inga Binga regards it as her solemn duty to preselect bigots, even of the LaRouche school.

Game on.

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DISTURBING: A Glimpse Inside The Troubled Mind of Greg Barber MLC

The Victorian Greens' bizarre decision to vote against the Bracks Government's anti-nuclear law shows an extraordinary lack of principle and is perhaps the most shocking lapse of political judgment we've ever seen from the Greens.

The Greens led by right-wing numbers-man Greg Barber have inadvertently given their Labor opponents a very big stick to belt the bejesus out of the Greens piñata (Dora the Explorer fans should note the correct spelling) for the rest of time.


In this analysis we can leave aside the question about whether we should be contemplating using nuclear energy because of concern about greenhouse gas emissions from coal powered electricity generation. It's a divisive issue in the general community. But the simple fact is that behind the Latte Curtain, among the nose-ringed, the doctors' wives, the tweed-wearing academic surrender-monkeys and Arena readers nuclear power is about as popular as leukemia (the latter could be caused by the latter some say).

So the petulant and mind-numbingly stupid decision to vote with the Liberals to defeat a measure designed to stop the construction of a nuclear energy facility means they have painted themselves into a corner - where no matter what they do or say now - from which they cannot escape politically.

SQUEAMISH SOCIALISTS
The inner-city SL have a reluctance to engage with the Greens. People like Melbourne MLA and Minister for the Reverse Midas Touch Bronwyn Pike - while in their head understanding that her opponent is the Greens - have trouble in their heart bringing themselves to be critical of them. They justify this in all sorts of ways but the fact is that in their situation the only way to win is to rip votes out of the Greens' cold dead hands. It's as if they are stuck in a mindset where they want to get Greens preferences when those preferences are never distributed because the Greens run second. Or in Bronny's case probably because had she not been given an ALP seat and Cabinet post she'd be happily voting for the Greens.

The Labor Right get it but they tend not to have inner-city seats. This is pretty much an SL problem.

And this is their wake-up call. More like a siren in the nuclear power plant signalling a potential Greens meltdown.

For while the Greens are pretty obsessed - normally - with opposing nuclear energy, the Socialist Left have been consistent on this for a very long time. They oppose uranium mining too and get very, very emotional about it. It's perhaps the most emotional issue debated within the ALP, even more so than the rights of the unborn.

So perhaps this will be a turning point for them. The day they finally realise the nature of the existential threat they face in the inner city.

LUST FOR POWER EVEN IF IT'S NUCLEAR
Back to the Greens, their puzzling decision seems to have been motivated by what Gareth Evans once called Relevance Deprivation Syndrome.

Their leader Greg Barber appears to have arrived in the Upper House with an inflated view about what they could achieve or - more to the point - extract from the election of three Greens to the chamber.

They have the power to vote against legislation but ultimately no ability to block it due to the state equivalent of a joint sitting that could be held on any proposal rejected by the upper house that attracted a lower house majority.

Barber has directed his two much less