The Victorian Greens say they can win the balance of power in both houses of the the state's Parliament at November's election and reiterated their support for a deal with Labor to keep the Daniel Andrews government in power.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Acting leader Ellen Sandell brushed aside the poll in The Age showing a slight drop in support for the Greens, saying the party's support was stronger in inner-city Melbourne that the statewide poll indicated.
She said the Greens had an excellent chance of winning five lower house seats in November and was bullish about their chances of boosting their upper house presence.
The Liberals, who were out on Monday marking the release of 100 election policies, were unwilling to comment on the polling, which showed the Coalition slightly closer to the Andrews government from their 2014 performance, but still in an election-losing position.
Ms Sandell said her party would do a deal to keep Labor in government in the event of a hung Parliament, but said an accord with the Coalition was unlikely.
The Greens position is unchanged from the previous election in 2014, but takes on added significance given the tightness of the race between the major parties.
Liberal leader Matthew Guy's determination to build the controversial East-West link road and the Liberal-National policy of tearing up Victoria's renewable energy target were both deal-breakers for the Greens, Ms Sandell said.
“We seek to have power to get action on the things we care about, clean energy, affordable housing, investment in public transport and stopping the sell-off of our public assets,” she said.
“We’d be willing to work with the government to get action on those kind of issues.
But an arrangement with the Coalition was less likely, Ms Sandell said.
“They want to bring back the East-West toll road which would be a disaster for our state and for our budget and they want to rip up our clean energy laws and those are two things that are very different from the Greens," she said.
The party was confident of winning the seats of Brunswick and Richmond in November, retain the three seats they already hold and even win more upper house spots.
“You never know, I think the Greens are doing really well in the city and even out to the regions there’s a possibility we could win balance-of-power in both houses including places like northern, eastern and western country Victoria," she said.
The Liberals upper house leader, Mary Wooldridge, would not be drawn on Monday about her party’s chances in the November election after The Age’s poll showed the Coalition closing to a 49 to 51 per cent position against Daniel Andrews’ Labor in the two-party preferred vote.
“We’re working to be the government after November 24, that’s our objective,” the party's health spokesman said.
“We believe that we have a better vision for Victorian and our policies back that up, but the decision will be made by the voter on November 24.
“We are in it to win, we are doing the work to win.”
