Di Natale Faces Another Long Wait For A Result

The Age

Monday November 26, 2007

By Orietta Guerrera

RICHARD Di Natale, the Greens' lead Senate candidate in Victoria, has grown accustomed to a tight contest. In his two attempts as a candidate running for State Parliament he had to wait almost a week after polling day before his fate was known - both times narrowly missing out on booting Government minister Bronwyn Pike from her lower house seat, Melbourne.

Once again his nerves are being tested. He said yesterday it may be a fortnight before it's clear if he's been elected to Federal Parliament.

In the meantime Dr Di Natale, 37, an international public health specialist, has promised to try to pry himself away from the Australian Electoral Commission's website and stop watching every movement in the count.

"You go and tend to your vegie patch, you take the dog for a walk," Dr Di Natale said. "You go out to dinner with your wife, and try to forget about it."

Dr Di Natale is trailing Liberal Scott Ryan in the race for Victoria's sixth Senate seat. The result may depend on how absentee and postal votes fall. With several big music festivals on in regional Victoria over the weekend, including the Queenscliff Music Festival and Earthcore, the Greens consider themselves a good chance to secure these voters' support. It's what leader Bob Brown has described as the "bushwalker factor" - people who are away for the weekend but with strong environmental leanings.

"The trend is looking good but it really does hang in the balance," Dr Di Natale said.

The Greens Senate line-up secured more than 10 per cent of the Senate vote in Victoria, up 1.3 per cent from 2004.

Dr Di Natale said their strong polling was a clear message against the Howard government's WorkChoices agenda and the military intervention in Northern Territory indigenous communities. It also signalled support for climate change action and a boost in health and education spending.

After a stint working for Aboriginal health organisations and seeing Third World conditions first hand, he rejected outgoing indigenous affairs minister Mal Brough's call to the new Rudd government to continue the controversial campaign to stamp out sexual abuse of children and violence.

"This is a problem of underinvestment over decades by successive governments, and the Australian people have said that to Mal Brough," Dr Di Natale said. "They've said, 'we don't like what you've done. We don't think this problem needs a military response - it needs a humanitarian response. And we hope Rudd Labor, with the Greens in the Senate, will help achieve that'."

With his future still not assured, Dr Di Natale hasn't ruled out contesting a seat again if he fails in his latest attempt.

"When you join a minor party you do it with a long-term view," he said. "These are long-term struggles . . . and I'm around for the long-term."

© 2007 The Age

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