There was this thing on FaceBook the other day. From the Greens, in Victoria.
''Here are the public websites of the 12 contenders for Greens Senate preselection, sorted by region,'' it said.
Wow, you might think, if you were an observer of the ACT chapter of the lodge. A branch of the Greens who reckon that preselection, as a political process, should be open to public scrutiny, not just that of ''the membership''.
But we won't be getting a piece of that action here in the territory. In the ACT, our Greens like their internal processes the way they like their swimming pools: screened off from public view.
In the week when the party's parliamentary leader Meredith Hunter called for private areas for women-only bathing in Canberra's public pools, it became clear that her party also wants it's preselections to be kept discreet from prying eyes.
Maybe body image problems are keeping the party out of the water with the other kids. Maybe the Greens just fear we wouldn't like what we saw if they shrugged off their kaftans and took to the water.
But more likely it's ''cultural issues''. The Greens' local convenor - not Meredith, the other convenor - recently refused to disclose how many hopefuls had put their hands up for preselection for the 2012 territory election.
Not their names or addresses, their swimming costume sizes or other intimate details, just a number. (Ten, in case you were wondering.) But the Greens reckon it's a matter for the prospective candidate and ''the membership''.
A criticism often made of the ACT Greens is that they're savage for openness and transparency - for everyone else.
A recent example was newly outed election hopeful Alan Kerlin, who presumably was going to keep his preselection nomination quiet until he succeeded in being chosen or forever if he failed.
Now, maybe it was a body image problem that was keeping Alan out of the water, but he's never been shy before, so we're putting our pool money on ''cultural issues''.
The Gungahlin lobbyist also kept his membership of the party on the downlow for a long time while acting as prolific commentator and advocate around town. No disclosure of political affiliations and the Greens hierarchy liked it just fine.
Perhaps Alan's fellow Gungahlin Community Council members might have been interested in his prospective candidacy. It's unclear if they were taken into his confidence. ''It seems that even now, some corners of the media just don't 'get' the Greens,'' Alan thundered on his blog this week.
Oh, just come and have a swim with us, Al. Bring your new friends. The water is fine and we promise not to be mean about your cultural issues.
.gif)
