I recently attended Clive Hamilton's campaign launch for Higgins. Our local Greens branch are enthusiastic about his nomination and his candidacy has generated a fair amount of local and national interest. It's a great sign for the party that people of Clive's calibre are now standing for the Greens. We need more public intellectuals in politics, particularly ones like Clive that challenge and provoke. I may not agree with all of his views but strict party discipline suffocates debate in this country and has a profoundly unhealthy impact on our democracy. The bottom line for me is that now we have one of the country’s best credentialed climate change advocates taking up the fight in Higgins. It couldn’t come at a more critical moment with the planet on the edge and Copenhagen around the corner. All strength to his arm.