Across the country ATC members in key electorates have been contacting their candidates to seek commitments on Tibet.

The seat of Melbourne is one of the closest watched races in the country, being the only lower-house contest where, in 2007, the Greens out-polled the Liberal Party to finish second to Labor. This year Melbourne is shaping up as a tight Labor/Greens contest, with the prospect of the Greens winning their first ever lower house seat at a general election(1).

Strategically speaking, few if any seats are more significant than Melbourne in bringing about positive outcomes for Tibet this election. Picking up a lower house seat will enable the Greens, the only party to consistently speak out for the rights of Tibetans, to expand their influence in Canberra significantly. Conversely, with over six hundred ATC supporters in the inner-city seat and the Greens promising to maintain their support for Tibet, there is a strong incentive for the Labor candidate, Cath Bowtell, to make a firm commitment to Tibetans beyond the election.

This week a small delegation including local Tibetan-Australian Temay Rigzin and Thupten Dhondup, President of the Tibetan Community of Victoria, approached the ALP’s Cath Bowtell and the Greens’ Adam Bandt to see what actions they’d be willing to take for Tibet if elected.

We met with Adam Bandt in his makeshift campaign HQ in the heart of Fitzroy. Adam pointed to the Greens record on Tibet in the Federal Parliament, including the longstanding support of Greens leader Bob Brown and recent actions by Senators Sarah Hanson-Young and Scott Ludlam(2). Pledging to continue and strengthen the Greens support for Tibet, Adam spoke of the advantages of adding a lower house seat to the Greens’ parliamentary lineup, both in terms of media focus and in ensuring that Tibet is raised consistently in both houses. More specifically, Mr. Bandt pledged that he would advocate publicly for the human rights and democratic freedoms of Tibetans and offer practical assistance to Australia’s Tibetans and Tibet supporters in their advocacy work, both nationally and within the Melbourne electorate. He expressed strong interest in joining a future delegation to Dharamsala if elected.

At the time of writing Cath Bowtell has agreed to meet with our delegation but is yet to find time for us in her diary. Check back for updates on this and other candidate meetings.

Other key seats in ATC’s 2010 election strategy including Grayndler, Sydney and Brisbane.

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(1) Michael Organ MP was an Australian Greens member of the House of Representatives between 2002 and 2004 after winning a bi-election in the division of Cunningham (NSW) that the Liberal Party did not contest. The Greens are yet to win a lower house seat at a general election.
(2) See tibetpolitik 18 September 2009.

See also our special guide The 2010 Federal Election and Tibet.