Ben Oquist

Benjamin Richard "Ben" Oquist is a director of the Australia Institute and a former chief of staff of Senator Christine Milne and former Senator Bob Brown of the Australian Greens. Senator Brown has described Oquist as a 'friend and confidant' but also as 'a core factor in the Greens becoming the third largest party in Australian politics'.^[1] In a 2014 radio interview Brown stated that Oquist’s approach to strategy aligned with that of his own. ^[2]

Oquist as strategist

Oquist is frequently lauded for his 'skills as a political operative'.^[3] A sometimes controversial figure he has been described in a former role as an advisor to the Australian Greens as the holder of an 'awesome amount of power' and 'effectively a gatekeeper to Bob [Brown]'.^[4] Senator Milne has described him as an adherent to a hierarcichal administrative structure, citing this as the reason behind his subsequent departure from his role on the Greens staff.^[5]

In one insight, in 2006 Oquist attracted the ire of the then Australian Democrats spokesperson Andrew Bartlett over Oquist's criticism of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) legislation.^[6] Bartlett accused Oquist of being an environmental 'fundamentalist' over his criticisms of the World Wildlife Fund and blamed an eagerness to score political points.^[7]

On another occasion in 2006 Oquist issued an aggressive assault against Peter Garrett's foray into Victorian state politics, lambasting Garrett for getting "down in the muck with the best of them" and recommending that he campaign in "the outer suburban Melbourne marginals where his “bogan appeal” could have helped defeat anti-environment Liberals".^[8]

Conflict

In September 2013 Oquist was implicated in an attempt to unseat the then leader of the Australian Greens, Christine Milne.^[9] Following revelations of his involvement he stepped down from a long-term involvement which began with his role as political advisor to the former leader, Senator Bob Brown.^[10] His commencement with the Australia Institute aligned him with the economist and Executive Director of the Australia Institute Richard Denniss. Denniss is also an outspoken critic of Christine Milne and a former Australian Greens staffer.^[11]

Oquist's role in the repeal of the carbon tax

In July 2014 Oquist, at that time a director of the Australia Institute, was named as a party to the meeting between former US Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore and Clive Palmer.^[12] The meeting was instrumental in a deal brokered between the leader of the Palmer United Party, Clive Palmer, and the federal government of Australia for the repeal of the carbon tax.^[13] His role in the context of the repeal was widely reported to be one of pragmatism, driven by a focus on gaining support in particular for the mandated Renewable Energy Target which in 2014 was under imminent threat.^[14]

The co-mingling of the Australia Institute and the Palmer United Party has been described as 'strategically masterful' by Bob Brown and supposed by some reports as a means to achieve policy gains advantageous to the Green agenda.^[15]

The demise of the Palmer United Party senate voting bloc in 2014 meant that prior commitments extracted by Oquist from Palmer to support the retention of the Renewable Energy Target were rendered inapplicable. ^{[16] [17]}

Career

Oquist is a past president of the Sydney University of Technology Student Association 1991.^[18] A 15 year career with Greens leader Bob Brown was broken briefly by a two year stint with the public affairs company Essential Media Communications.^[19][20]

References

External links