Greens MPs

We're pleased to present some new features here on GreensMPs - this new site for the Greens Senators was always a work in progress, and we still have a few things up our sleeve.

You'll notice a few additions to the site;

• Events - keep up to date with functions, events & important dates.
• Forums - take part in discussion on a variety of topics.
• Petitions - put your name to important petitions run through GreensMPs.
• Polls - make your vote count here on various issues.
• Tip-offs - keep your GreensMPs informed on important issues, totally anonymously.
• Links - branch out into our best picks of the world wide web.

We've spoken before about some of the great Web 2.0 projects that are bringing attention (and much needed excitement) back into politics. Now there is another fantastic tool available for anyone wanting to better engage with their Parliament - GetUp's Project Democracy.

Welcome to the all new, singing, dancing and blogging GreensMPs website.

You'll find a range of web based systems designed to better inform you of the Australian Greens Senators' work, including newsroom, galleries, videos, parliamentary achives, info and our collective GreensBlog.

Those of you coming through from our old blog site will notice we have switched blogging platforms - please update your links and rss feeds. 

We are extremely confident that this new GreensMPs site will provide you, the users, with a much better service in terms of both finding out the Greens' position in detail and commenting on it, making your views heard, contributing to the democratic process.

It's been noted a few times - in comments and in direct emails to the moderators - that there has been quite a lull in the use of GreensBlog recently. This is sad but true, and I just wanted to briefly explain it.

As well as working with the new Senators and their teams and preparing for the avalanche that is about to come with the shifting balance of power in the new Senate, a fair chunk of our time recently has been dedicated to preparing a new website for the 5 Greens Senators that will encompass each of their sites, an umbrella site, newsroom, galleries, videos, parliamentary archive and, of course, the blog itself.

We are extremely confident, as the new site begins to take shape, that it will provide you, the users, with a much better service in terms of both finding out the Greens position in detail and commenting on it, making your views heard, contributing to the democratic process! It will also, I might add, be a lot easier for us to use than our current outdated mishmash of sites...

We're excited about the launch of a new website - OpenAustralia.

Tonight's the night that the Rudd Government deliver their first federal budget, and the Greens are currently in lock-up, pouring over every detail and analysing every last line.
Keep an eye on this spot - after 7:30 tonight, when the doors open, we'll have more details live blogged here.

I've been somewhat troubled recently by the growing tendency of some commenters to launch personal attacks, use the comments threads as venues for spurious cricitisms, and turn the threads into quite unpleasant and personal arguments.

The blogosphere has played a key role in shaping how this campaign has been perceived, particularly in terms of shining a clear light on poll results and trends. Its next challenge is how it covers election night itself. My hope is that it can offer some serious analysis to help inform the mainstream media's coverage, both on the night and the morning after.

Hello to all you lovely new visitors. Can we respectfully invite you to explore the rest of GreensBlog while you are here?

Enjoy the LOL Pols!

OMG! It can be tiem for Howardz ends?

Re-election

As part of Election07, we're running our own competition alongside the Federal race to Capitol Hill... LOL Politicians!

Create your own LOL Pols and post them at our specially created Flickr group.

For those new to LOL - check out the originals here. For those without the skills to pay their bills, check out www.wigflip.com/roflbot/ and create your own masterpieces.

I took you some Action - but I eated it - Green Action