{"id":39236,"date":"2026-06-01T06:12:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T20:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=39236"},"modified":"2026-06-01T06:12:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T20:12:50","slug":"uk-greens-leader-zack-polanski-joins-victorian-greens-fight-turning-frustration-with-labor-into-replacing-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/uk-greens-leader-zack-polanski-joins-victorian-greens-fight-turning-frustration-with-labor-into-replacing-them\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Greens Leader Zack Polanski joins Victorian Greens fight turning frustration with Labor into replacing them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Leader of the UK Greens, Zack Polanski<\/strong>, has joined the Victorian Greens’ push to turn growing frustration with Labor into electoral success at this year’s state election, telling hundreds of Greens supporters that the same political conditions driving the Greens’ breakthrough in the UK are emerging in Victoria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In conversation with the Victorian Greens Leader Ellen Sandell <\/strong>at the party\u2019s Campaign Conference on Saturday, they discussed how rising living costs, growing inequality and growing disillusionment with establishment politics were creating opportunities for Greens movements around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in the day, Sandell delivered a keynote speech where she argued that Victoria is experiencing the same political conditions driving progressive insurgent movements overseas, as more voters abandon the major parties and that the Greens are ready to win more lower house seats off both Labor and the Liberals this November. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polanski’s appearance comes as the Victorian Greens prepare for the November state election, with the party arguing voters are increasingly looking beyond the major parties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polanski shared lessons from the UK Greens’ recent surge in support, which has seen membership soar, major local government gains and the party win new parliamentary seats, saying that Greens movements were succeeding because they understood the frustration many people felt with politics as usual and were prepared to offer a hopeful alternative and that he wants to see \u201cGreens governments all around the world.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing the party\u2019s state conference via video link on Saturday, Polanski said: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“People are feeling more and more angry, more and more disillusioned, and more and more ready for change.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The other parties take money from oil and gas companies, private healthcare companies, gambling companies and arms trade companies.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Green Party only has two vested interests. We want to protect the communities that we seek to serve, and we want to protect the planet.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’m not here to be concerned or disappointed by the Labour Party, I’m here to replace the Labour Party. We’ve just replaced Labour in hundreds of seats across England and Wales at the council level.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I want to see Green governments all around the world.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quotes attributable the Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“People are fed up because they’re working harder than ever but finding it harder to afford a home, pay the rent or keep up with rising bills.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For too long Labor has taken people for granted. They’ve become too focused on protecting powerful interests while ordinary people are being left behind.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What Zack and the UK Greens have shown is that when you connect with people’s frustration, take on vested interests and offer real solutions, people respond.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The same conditions that fuelled the Greens breakthrough in the UK exist right here in Victoria. People are frustrated, they feel ignored and they’re ready for change.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“People are fed up with Labor and the Victorian Greens are the hopeful alternative.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Leader of the UK Greens, Zack Polanski, has joined the Victorian Greens’ push to turn growing frustration with Labor into electoral success at this year’s state election, telling hundreds of Greens supporters that the same political conditions driving the Greens’ breakthrough in the UK are emerging in Victoria. In conversation with the Victorian Greens Leader Ellen … Continue reading “UK Greens Leader Zack Polanski joins Victorian Greens fight turning frustration with Labor into replacing them”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39236"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39237,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39236\/revisions\/39237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}