Premier Daniel Andrews has again ruled out doing a post-election deal with the Greens, accusing the smaller party of having a "toxic culture" and refusing to call out the vilification of women.
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Mr Andrews was responding on Sunday morning to reports that the Greens might want a ministry as the price for backing Labor to form government if Saturday’s state election results in a hung Parliament.
But the Labor leader, whose party is locked in close battles against the Greens in several of its inner-city seats, reiterated he would not make any arrangements with the other party.
“No deal will be offered, no deal will be done,” the Premier said.
“It’s not some recent position, that has been my position for eight years.
“I will not sit down with people, never, who have a toxic cultural problem and sadly, tragically, refuse to call out the denigration of women, the vilification of women.
“I will not deal with people like that.”
The Greens have endured a difficult few days, forced to defend one of their candidates in Victoria over his past as a rapper who spouted sexist lyrics.
At the same time, their NSW branch descended into turmoil with prominent MP Jeremy Buckingham accused by female colleague Jenny Leong of “sexual violence". The MP had denied the allegations and was cleared by an internal investigation.
At the same time, Labor has stepped up its attacks on the Greens, with the ALP hosting a website dedicated to criticism of its rival, despite the Premier’s rhetoric on positive campaigning.
Mr Andrews defended the tactic on Sunday morning.
“If you look at all of the material, you’ll see that it's factual, it’s presented in a very dispassionate way,” he said.
“They [the Greens] have got a toxic cultural problem."
Greens leader Samantha Ratnam said the party was standing by its candidate for Footscray, Angus McAlpine, in the face of Labor’s attacks on his past as a rapper.
"If we are going to cast people aside when they do something wrong in their past, what hope is there for the future? If we don't believe in the capacity for people to change what are we doing here in Parliament?" she said.
With the Greens holding five upper-house seats, another three in the lower house and in a competitive position to capture two more inner-city electorates as the state prepares to vote, balance-of-power status is a realistic prospect.
The Greens leader dismissed Mr Andrews' no-deal stance as “posturing”.
“If the people of Victoria do vote us into the balance of power, I think it would be wise of Premier Andrews to talk to the Greens,” Ms Ratnam said.
With five days to go until the main polling day, hundreds of thousands of voters have already cast their ballots at pre-poll stations, with the Victorian Electoral Commission expecting up to 2 million voters, an all-time-high, to take advantage of the pre-poll option for this election.
