On election night, I sat glued to the TV, hanging on Antony Green’s every word. All I wanted was the defeat of the Liberals and huge gains for the Greens.

I am so sorry the votes for you were not translated into Lower House seats. Australia is much poorer for your reduced presence in our Parliament.

For years, on all issues, you were a breath of fresh air in our Parliament. One major party was a relic of the 1950s, guarding the interests of those who owned our resources, and the other timidly tinkered around the edges of reform, perennially afraid of being wedged. And it was you, The Greens, together with a number of Independents who spoke about the elephant(s) in the room. Every election was a replay of a familiar refrain: the 1950s lot would reach into their bag of goodies and out would come law and order, warmongering, self-claimed economic prowess, and dog-whistling about our most vulnerable. The timid ones would promise baby steps of reform and many squandered opportunities for transformative reform. And you, The Greens, would talk about the bold policies needed to address climate change, inequality, and the reflex action to follow America every time it goes to war.

While other politicians speak in talking points inspired by focus groups, you speak in plain English and you speak common sense. I am sure I am not the only Australian who, despite many attempts to do so, still cannot understand why AUKUS is good for us, why we are supposed to hate China, and why we do not properly tax resource magnates and the super rich. Years ago, whenever people raised the largest elephant in the Australian room, “Inequality”, the 1950s lot would rush to accuse them of class warfare. A small newspaper cutting of a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald editor has lived in my wallet since 2013. It is titled “Reach for the stars” and says, “Thank goodness for class warfare. Without it, we would still be illiterate peasants living in a feudal society with the Herald handwritten in Latin for the benefit of the clergy.”  It may wound, but ignoring taunts is often the best option. Inequality is at the heart of most of our major problems. Yet, as long as I can remember, the 1950s lot’s response to it was either inaction or making it worse; think of the link between the Howard/Costello 2007 vote-buying policies and our current housing crisis. And the timid ones? They wanted to address “Inequality”, they really did, but could not do much about it. Without truth in advertising, it was poison. And, once again, it was you, The Greens, who argued for bold policies to address “Inequality”, and made sure it stayed on the political agenda.

The job of political leaders is to lead us, not walk behind us, to bring out the best in us, rather than pander to the worst in us. The way they lead determines the nature of our society: humane, caring for one another and for our environment, or selfish, greedy, putting our own hip pocket above all else. I remember a comment made by David Marr on Insiders, at the time the latter was still essential viewing. The discussion was about how mean we Australians have become, and Marr said something to the effect that we were the same people, but change the leadership and you change the way people think, talk and behave. As we longed for another Whitlam or another Keating, we watched politicians avoid the grand, inspiring vision. The “vision thing” has eluded many of our leaders. They played it safe and avoided annoying the powerful vested interests. The vision thing comes with a hefty price tag. And where would we find the money? We have the money for superfluous nuclear submarines, but raising income support benefits is a step too far. While the country desperately needs transformative, Whitlamesque reforms, big ideas are routinely shut down. They are reframed as “pie in the sky” because “where will the money come from?”. Other countries use the proceeds of their resources to give their children nutritious school breakfasts and lunches and their citizens free university education and superb public transport, and here it is the usual contest of small ideas between the 1950s lot and the timid ones. And through the noise of the many “couldn’ts” and “where will the money come froms”, you, The Greens, have consistently spoken about what could be and you told us where the money could come from.

And how does the media treat you? Their masters’ voices treat you like a lunatic fringe, others ignore you, and a few notable exceptions take you seriously. By and large, the media did not engage with your ideas. And, as in their dealings with other politicians, it is easier for some journalists (and oh.. so clever ) to fall back on gotcha questions. As if the ability to memorise figures could be a substitute for intellect, morals, and courage.

Some blamed your election results on Max Chandler-Mather. Without him, would we be talking about the plight of renters? Would politicians have adjusted to the fact that, like in Europe and Asia, many Australians will rent for their entire lives, and they need the same protections that renters in many other countries have long enjoyed?

Some blamed your election results on your supposed straying from the issue of the environment. But you were never a single-issue environmentalist party. You always spoke on other important issues. Those who want you to stay with one issue fail to understand that the environment and the other issues you address are interconnected. They fail to see the way wars affect the environment, and the way poverty, on the one hand, and greed, built-in obsolescence and over-consumption on the other, take a devastating toll on our planet and our lives.

Some blamed your election result on your supposed extreme position on Gaza. Seriously? How can calls to stop the deliberate starving of children be labelled extreme? What does taking a moderate stance on ethnic cleansing and genocide look like? The stance of one major party was not a surprise and is not worth commenting on. But from the other party we expected better. Sadly, for us, but more importantly for the Palestinians under the raining bombs, all we got was inaction wrapped in hollow words. One day, when the bombs have stopped falling and political biographies are being written, and party elders are being interviewed, the world will hear how they spoke up, in private. Cabinet solidarity and all that. As Omar El Akkad says, “One day everyone will have always been against this”. You, The Greens, should be proud that you have continued to raise your voices for the Palestinians, at the time it mattered.

In the election post-mortem, many factors were blamed for your results. Curiously, there was one big notable absence in the mainstream media’s early deliberations: the vicious smear campaign you were subjected to.

You paid a high price for your principled position. I am grateful that you retained your formidable presence in the Senate. You brought us a vision of Australia that cares for our planet, an Australia whose riches are shared by all its people, an Australia where diplomacy and co-operation replace warmongering and subservience to global bullies, and an Australia that does not avert its gaze while Palestinians are being slaughtered on an industrial scale. To Bandt and the Greens senators who lost their seats, our Parliament is much poorer for your departure. Thank you for all you have achieved for Australians, and you have achieved much. I will miss you. I wish you all the best in your future endeavours and hope you will consider standing in the next election. Come back, stronger and just as principled.