2026-10-19
by Giz Watson
Australian Greens International Secretary
The Australian Greens are very involved in international matters, particularly in the Asia Pacific region, but not many of our members know about this!. This report hopes to set out the range of this involvement, how we are supporting other Greens parties and how the work intersects with the work of the International Secretary and other parts of the organisation. We should be proud of the enormous voluntary contribution by our members and how well we use the relatively small amount of funds provided for the work of the International Development Committee.
International review
Over the past year the AG office bearer group and I in my role as International Secretary (IS) have reviewed the internal structures, roles and activities to strengthen the relationship of the Australian Greens in our international work with the the Global Greens and APGF and for the purpose of ensuring the Terms of Reference (TOR), role descriptions and lines of reporting and accountability are appropriate and effective for the needs of the organisation. Changes have been approved by the National Council that seek to define roles; remove overlapping responsibilities; and streamline lines of reporting and accountability. The recommendations from this review have also resulted in amendments to the duties of the International Secretary and the creation of a new role of deputy International Secretary. The implementation of these recommendations will depend on the outcome of changes to the AG constitution being considered at our 2026 AGM.
Global Issues Group
In my current role as IS I am also the convenor of the Global Issues Group (GIG). Over the past year GIG has reviewed its role and will be submitting a new ToR to National Council. GIG members are particularly wanting to work with the various diaspora in Australia to strengthen their voices and better represent them in AG campaigns and actions. Of course, a large focus has been on the conflicts in the Middle East and supporting aid initiatives such as the APGF water for Palestine and more recently providing support to the Nepalese Greens in the wake of the flooding disaster.
Asia Pacific Greens Federation
The Asia Pacific Greens Federation (APGF), which the Australian Greens are a key part of and which is incorporated in Australia, is one of the four Global Greens Federations. There are 16 full members of APGF and 6 associate members. Members span huge geographic and cultural differences, from the Pacific islands to India to Palestine. As one of four directors on APGF, I have attended APGF council meetings and am part of the leadership team and hope to assist in improving the APGF’s effectiveness. I also want to acknowledge the many voluntary hours that other AG members are putting into APGF – Sue Ethridge, Bashir Sawalhi, Bob Hale, Pefi Kingi, and Dominic Wy-Kanak.
Global Greens 25 Year Anniversary
In April we celebrated around the World the 25th Anniversary of the formation of the Global Greens in 2001 (instigated by the Australian Greens) and the initial conference held in Canberra. Two 6-hour online sessions were held spotlighting key issues we face now - from erosion of biodiversity and democracy to climate change, youth and diversity issues - while also looking back at why and where it all began.
International Development Committee
I am also a member of the Australian Greens International Development Committee (IDC). The work of the IDC is critical in supporting current and emerging Green parties in the APGF.
To provide the full picture of our international activities, IDC co-ordinator Michelle Sheather has kindly provided the following summary of IDC’s role and projects. Thank you, Michelle, for the enormous amount of work you do!
The IDC implements projects, research, and practical training for new and emerging Green parties across Asia, the Pacific, and the Middle East, as well as assisting the APGF in developing its capacity. To do so, we receive a small annual grant through the Australian Federal Government. This is now the 14th year of this grant program. We have conducted over 60 projects within the region to support the amazing work, at times in hazardous circumstances, of our fellow Green Parties IN-COUNTRY over the last decade.
In the first quarter of the year we have - supported a by-election in the Solomon Islands, supported the Green Party of Palestine in their first election where the stood as Greens - electing 7 local government representatives and a Mayor; supporting ongoing trainings in Lebanon despite the bombings and destruction of now 70 villages; undertaken a Gender Equity Training (GET) in India to re-establish a national Women’s Network and set up a branch in Punjab; a third GET training was held in PNG where the Government now will bring in a quota system for women for the first time in the 2027 national election; assisted the Green Party of the Philippines and the Green Party of Vanuatu on the road to Green Party registration; undertook a 10 hour virtual Online Study Tour for all APGF parties; and have recently completed the review of 20 APGF regional policies which were written initially as an IDC project three years ago.
In April, we selected the key projects for the next financial year, which will be in Lebanon, Palestine, PNG (National elections), Solomon Islands, and Asia Pacific Greens Federation Women' s Network (APGFWN) training across all Parties.
IDC Projects for 2025-26 Financial Year
Green Party of Palestine - Local Government elections and Party Building
In April, local government elections took place in Palestine, despite threats from Israel to arrest anyone standing as candidates. Seven Green Party Palestine candidates were elected across five Municipalities in the West Bank, including one Mayor in Ramallah. In some electorates, no candidates stood. In a month, the party had 65 new membership inquiries and has high interest among Youth and University students. Two trainings took place, including one with 40 rural women on Green Party Values and promoting our issues beyond the urban areas.
The situation continues to worsen, and is worse than you know through the media, with “settlers” in Jerusalem and the West Bank rapidly and aggressively taking more territory, and it remains dire in Gaza, where Palestinians now control only about 6% of their land. More journalists have been killed in Palestine and Southern Lebanon than in all wars combined since the American Civil War. This is now impacting the reporting.
Israel is still preventing aid from getting through; about 10-15% is reaching those in Gaza. APGF has a Crowdfunding appeal to get drinking water to Gaza.
The Green Party Palestine office in Gaza was bombed, but the team has now moved into a shared office of an NGO.
Below is the link to the Australian Green newsletter article in which Dr Tamimi Abdul Ramhan, General Secretary of the Palestine Green Party and Michelle Sheather wrote to promote the APGF appeal to get clean drinking water to those in Gaza. 75% of people have some illness/disease from drinking contaminated water.
The crowdfunding link is: https://www.gofundme.com/f/water-for-palestine-donate-now
Green Party of Lebanon (GPL) - Party Building + Training and Helping the Party Survive
The project team continues to meet regularly at the request of GPL as a way to support them at this most difficult time. The project is still on party building and support. Now 70 villages have been taken over by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) in the South of Lebanon, where we have an active Branch. Strategy sessions and training have been held in Beirut and Tripoli (the second largest city). The party is strengthening key branches so that they will survive.
We continue to support GPL however we can - an APGF appeal has been set up for GPL to assist in providing food, water, clothing, and shelter to the over 1.25 million internally displaced people. It will take the country a very long time to recover.
Green Party Solomon Islands - Ysabel Province By-Election
The by-election in Ysabel Province was held on April 15, where the GPSI candidate came second by 15 votes - if only we could have offered more support. They ran a very well-organised campaign and will build on this in the 2028 national election. In the last national election (also an IDC project), a Greens State Minister for Education in Ysabel Province was elected, which the party hopes to expand on.
PARTY REGISTRATIONS
Green Party of Vanuatu
The party is for the first time standing two candidates in the Port Villa Municipal Election, following the dismissal of the Council due to corruption issues. A number of outreach and training sessions were held, one of which was with the Council of Chiefs. The Party is in the process of filing registration with the Vanuatu Electoral Commission and laying the groundwork for the 2028 National Election.
Green Party of the Philippines (Kalisan Muna)
The party is organising training and meetings in the key districts to seek party registration at a provincial level in 2 provinces. This is following an unsuccessful attempt to register nationally, despite meeting all of the requirements. The project is likely to run till August, with a key focus on International Mangrove Day in July to undertake land restoration projects, fundraising, and membership requirements. The first stage to file for registration will be Central Luzon. In 2025, they had 4 local Councillors elected, including one Mayor. One Green Party Philippines candidate lost by two votes, but a recount costs the Party or candidate US$25,000.
IDC Online Study tour - April to July 2026
The first of four sessions started on April 25 with Stewart Jackson (who has been involved in the last 3 study tours) speaking on party building and local government elections and strategically working to strengthen national parties and branches. Examples of success in local branch building and membership were given by Sarekhat Hijau Indonesia (Green Union Indonesia), which now has branches across Indonesia, including in West Papua, and the Kailksan Muna (Green Party of the Philippines).
On May 30, the second session will focus on Running Election Campaigns with guest speakers from: PNG Greens - Andrew Kutupae, General Secretary, on the 20025 Local Government Election campaign where they went from 0 to 15 Councillors and two Presidents of Councils.
Michelle Sheather presented on the election campaigns across APGF Parties over the past 18 months.
James Ryan, NSW Greens on local government election strategies in NSW. As an exchange, Michelle Sheather and Dr Tamimi Abdel Rahman, the General Secretary of the Green Party of Palestine, spoke to the NSW Local Government Representatives Network on May 28.
June 27's focus was the Global Greens Charter (GGC) - that binds all of our parties together- governance, conflict resolution, and policy work, with guest speaker Christine Milne, former Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens on the GGC; Suresh Nautiyal, India Greens Founder, and APGF Councillor on Policy development; and former Australian Greens Senator Janet Rice on Party organisation and governance.
The July 25 focus was on Communications and Fundraising strategy with Pefi Kingi, APGF General Secretary, speaking on fundraising; Fahmi Cherly of Atjeh Greens Indonesia speaking on running a media campaign; and Michelel Sheather speaking on communications strategies leading up to and during elections.
APGF Policy Review
Twenty policies and six organisational procedure policies have been updated and approved by the APGF Council.
APGFWN
The India Greens Party held their Gender Equity Training (GET) on April 24-25 online nationally and face-to-face in Punjab, where they will set up a branch with a women’s executive (a first for India). They have relaunched their national women’s network. The PNG Greens held their third successful training in February in Eastern PNG in Lae; at each training, a representative from the Electoral Commission came to hand out the certificates at the end of the two-day training. It has contributed to the setting of a quota of 10% female candidates for the next National election in June-July 2027 - as a start.
We are currently wrapping up the individual mentoring program with 3 mentees remaining and focusing on building National Women’s Networks. Former AG Senator Janet Rice undertook training for the APGFWN Executive in March to help build up the new Executive. In December 2026, a virtual Train the Trainers GET will be held across all APGF Parties. More information is available here.
Annually in June, the IDC calls out for Expert members to join our Committee. Please circulate the advert to any potential candidates who have had experience in International Development or other relevant areas: International Development Committee Experts | Australian Greens.
The IDC meets bimonthly to monitor and develop the annual projects. In addition, we meet with the project teams monthly to support, work alongside parties and monitor outcomes. The IDC is currently comprised of the National Manager, AG OB representative (Secretary), AG International Secretary, AG party Room Rep from Senator Mehreen Faruqi’s office (Overseas Development portfolio holder), 5 IDC expert members who have lived and worked in-country, and the IDC Coordinator as ex officio. Observers are the APGF General Secretary, and the Australian Greens APGF Councillor.