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Tasmanian Greens have big parties in a panic


Matthew Denholm From: The Australian March 13, 2010 12:00AM



TASMANIA'S major political parties, spooked by a record Greens showing in the polls, have united to tackle the common foe, with four ex-premiers issuing a joint warning against a hung parliament.


Taking the unprecedented step of issuing a joint statement were two former Liberal premiers -- Robin Gray, now a
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director of timber company Gunns Ltd, and Tony Rundle --
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as well as ex-Labor premiers Paul Lennon and Michael Field.

Coinciding with a new Labor television advertising campaign targeting the Greens, yesterday's statement said having the Greens hold the balance of power was "unworkable" and "not in the best interests of democracy".

"We know this from bitter experience and would not wish it on the current Labor and Liberal parties, or on the people of Tasmania," the gang of four ex-premiers said.

Their intervention one week before the March 20 election follows polling pointing to a hung parliament, with Labor and the Greens almost neck-and-neck and the Liberals short of a majority.

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.

Mr Rundle and Mr Field have first-hand experience of dealing with the Greens in minority government.

Mr Rundle governed in minority from 1996 to 1998, while Mr Field formed an accord government with green independents in 1989.

"We are warning voters of the dangers of minority government and urging them to demand that the Greens detail the conditions they require to support the party that may gain the most seats or votes," the four ex-premiers said.

"(Greens leader Nick) McKim has made a raft of extravagant election promises that are unaffordable when taken together with the commitments made by whichever of the major parties he decides to prop up in government."

The former premiers said the two most recent minority governments had seen an erosion of business confidence. "Unemployment grew and young Tasmanians left the state in droves," they said.

"We don't want this to happen again."

The ex-premiers' intervention came as Labor launched television advertisements claiming the Greens had "bizarre" policies, such as allowing serious criminals to vote.

The Greens had been expecting an onslaught and immediately launched an advertising counter-attack, accusing the major parties of "wasting time" on negative campaigning.

Mr McKim said the major parties were "panicked".

He said most Tasmanians would react with "scepticism" to four "old . . . dinosaurs howling in frustration at a new dawn in Tasmania".

Mr McKim was not surprised the four men would "prefer a government with the absolute power that allows secrecy and cronyism, rather than a power-sharing arrangement that will deliver the stability and accountability".

"These gentlemen are clearly worried that the Greens' focus on reducing the cost of living shows up the fact that the parties they represented have abandoned Tasmanians struggling to make ends meet," he said.

The Greens under Mr McKim have shifted further to the centre, citing household budgets and the cost of living as the party's focus and not dwelling on policies to stop old-growth logging. Mr McKim says while the Greens would seek to extract policy outcomes in return for supporting a major party in a coalition, no one issue would be a "deal-breaker".

The most recent survey by pollsters EMRS puts the Green vote at an historic high (22 per cent) -- neck-and-neck with Labor (23 per cent) and the undecided vote (22 per cent), with the Liberals on 30 per cent.