Major parties rattled: Greens

[depakid]

The Greens say a warning by four ex-Tasmanian Premiers about the dangers of a minority government shows the major parties are rattled by growing support for the Greens.

Former Labor Premiers, Paul Lennon and Michael Field joined with former Liberal Premiers, Robin Gray and Tony Rundle to issue a joint statement. They warned investors would be wary of doing business in Tasmania if the Greens held the balance of power.

But Greens Senator Bob Brown says Tasmanian voters would be better off listening to the three tenors, than the four ex-Premiers. "The four ex-premiers aren't the three tenors, they're right out of tune with the Tasmanian electorate," he said. Senator Brown says they are ex-premiers for a reason and their warning will not hold any sway with voters. "We've got Robin Gray who ran the state into $100 million debt," he said. "Michael Field who wanted to close 22 schools, the Greens stopped that. "Tony Rundle who wanted to sell off the hydro and then Paul Lennon who ran arguably the most unpopular government in recent times."

But Tasmania's current Premier, David Bartlett says he agrees with the four former Premiers that hung Parliaments have been bad for the state. "The last hung parliament, of course saw people leaving the place in droves and saw an unemployment rate four percentage points worse than the national average," he said. "Having said that State Labor is running for majority government, we always have been and we always will."

More: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/13/2844924.htm

[Matilda]

1. I think Bob Brown's right.

Both major parties have ruled out any negotiation with The Greens, even if the result is a hung parliament. That's
an echo of Labor in 2004, and that approach gave us Steve Fielding in the Senate.

Of course, both major parties owe a lot to Gunns....