
Greens leader Adam Bandt says the party will direct its preferences to Labor in the upcoming Eden-Monaro byelection so voters can "send a message" about climate change.
A day after Labor leader Anthony Albanese announced it would give its preferences to the Greens' candidate Cathy Griff, Mr Bandt said his party would return the favour by putting Labor candidate Kristy McBain in the number two spot on their how to vote cards.
Advertisement
Mr Bandt said the Greens' preferences were "crucial" in determining the result of the 2019 election and the July 4 poll was a "golden opportunity" for the bushfire-stricken electorate to send a message to the Morrison government about climate change.
"The government isn't taking climate change seriously. The government is putting people's lives and livelihoods at risk by making catastrophic bushfires more likely," Mr Bandt said.
"The people of Eden-Monaro have the most to lose if we don't get the climate crisis under control. Whoever you usually vote for, this time vote for the Greens' Cathy Griff and send a powerful message to the government."
The Greens pulled in 8.78 per cent of first preference votes in the 2019 federal election, higher than the Nationals party which received 6.95 per cent of the vote.
Around 87 per cent of those voters flowed onto Labor's Mike Kelly who retained the seat on a wafer-thin margin of 1.7 per cent before his retirement on health grounds six weeks ago.
Early voting for the byelection is set to begin on Monday.
