<p>Australia is suffering from a crisis of confidence. Globalisation, deregulation, and privatisation have delivered economic growth and enhanced consumption for the past twenty years, but the effects of the 2007&amp;#8211;08 financial crisis, rising inequality, job insecurity, and increased corporate power over voters and employees are all eroding our sense of democracy.</p><br/><br/><p>Meanwhile, with an election looming, the future of progressive politics nationwide is deeply uncertain. The Australian Labor Party and the Greens are splitting the left-of-centre vote &amp;#8212; the major party driven rightwards by an increasingly conservative swinging voter, and the minor party holding firm on vital but controversial issues.</p><br/><br/><p>In <i>Why Labor Should Savour Its Greens</i>, former investment banker and economist Brad Orgill reviews the Greens' major economic, social, and environmental policies; and argues that progressive voters, and the nation as a whole, deserve an aligned ALP&amp;#8211;Greens platform incorporating the best elements of each. With an annual government expenditure of $500 billion at stake &amp;#8212; not to mention the future of our social fabric and our very planet &amp;#8212; this is a time for visionary thinking, not old divisions and counter-productive rivalries.</p>