172 - Alex Bhathal

Alex Bhatal is a social worker and activist. From 2001 to 2018 she was a six-time Greens candidate for the inner-city seat of Cooper (formerly Batman) but in 2019, Alex quit the party having been subjected to a campaign of abuse and “relentless organisational bullying” for years. Here Alex lays out for her me her journey into politics, her passion for refugee rights and social work, why the Tampa incident inspired her to join the Greens and her experience of running in the same seat for 17 years.  I also ask Alex to explain exactly what happened between her and the Darebin branch of the Greens, how bad it got for her and what it tells us about the state of the party today. Alex is extremely frank and honest talking to me about what was clearly a painful time in her life and for that I’m very grateful.  I’m doing LIASYO live at the 2020 Melbourne Comedy Festival with special guest ANDREW FREAKING DENTON. Tickets are on sale now! My show ENOUGH is on now the 2020 Adelaide Fringe, tickets available here My new show GRANDILOQUENT is coming to the 2020 Brisbane Comedy Festival and the 2020 Melbourne International Comedy Festival GRANDILOQUENT is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August, it’s on sale now  Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron @alexbhathal alexbhathal.com ARTICLE: Alex Bhathal and discord in the Greens by Martin McKenzie-Murray ARTICLE: Batman: How it went wrong for the Greens by Martin McKenzie-Murray Alex's statement on why she resigned from the Greens From solidarity.net.au: Alex Bhathal resigns - the latest victim of Greens' drift right Cause of the Week: Refugee Legal (refugeelegal.org.au)