Thanks for the interesting story GrahamMacBrown plays down...

Thanks for the interesting story GrahamMac


Brown plays down Senate power chances
By Felicity Ogilvie

Posted Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:21am AEST
Updated Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:21am AEST


Greens Senator Bob Brown. (File) (Damien Larkins)

Audio: Greens want chance to negotiate in Senate (PM) Prime Minister John Howard is telling voters that the Greens are likely to end up with the balance of power in the Senate if Labor wins the election - but Greens leader Bob Brown says even if his party picks up more Senate seats, the Greens will be in a position of negotiation rather than power.

Senator Brown says the party won't be forming government, so it will not have the power to implement its policies.

The Coalition has had power in both the House of Representatives and the Senate for the past three years - a rare event in Australian political history.

Now he says the usual situation, where no party controls the Senate, could return this time, and that the party left holding the balance is likely to be the Greens.

Mr Howard's prediction has pleased the Greens, even though when he made it on Southern Cross Radio, he meant it as a warning.

"Effectively, if Labor wins, then Labor and the Greens between them will probably have the numbers in the Senate, that's the reality, they probably will," he said.

"And I think that is going to be a very unbalanced state of affairs because the Greens are on some issues to the left of the Labor Party, so it does create an unbalanced position."

The Greens election website is playing up the prospect of a hung Senate. It features the slogan "A change of government won't be enough. Vote 1 Greens in the Senate".

But Senator Brown is playing down the likelihood of wielding Senate power.

"We're simply not going to be in the position to be able to order Peter Costello in charge of the Senate, or Kevin Rudd in charge of the Senate to do anything," he said.

"It becomes a process of negotiation for better outcomes for all Australians and we Greens would use the power responsibly."


'Scare campaign'

Labor Senator Penny Wong says the Prime Minister is trying to run a scare campaign.

"It's breathtaking when you consider Mr Howard's form on this," she said.

"Mr Howard had control of the Senate and he used that control to force through the most unbalanced and extreme industrial relations laws this country has ever seen.

"And now he has the gall to try and run a scare campaign in relation to balance in the Senate."

Labor is promising to change the Coalition's industrial relations laws, but the Greens don't think Labor is planning to go far enough.

Senator Brown says if Mr Rudd becomes prime minister, the Greens will try to amend Labor's industrial relations policy.

"We think Labor's been too weak about it and we'd like to strengthen their protection for Australian workers and help close the gap between rich and poor in this country," he said.

"However, we're not going to be in office, Labor will be. And if Labor doesn't improve its workplace relations ... policy after the election, well we'll have to grin and bear it.

"We will do our best to get them to improve it."

But there is some Greens' policy Senator Brown says will not influence the major parties, no matter what kind of power the Greens have in the senate.

For instance, Senator Brown says the major parties would never agree to the Green's policy to stop uranium mining.

"Unfortunately, because the Greens won't be in government, that's a little way down the line, Labor and Liberal will get together, Peter Garrett and Malcolm Turnbull will get together and say more uranium mines," he said.

The Greens currently hold four of the 76 Senate seats, but with the decline of the Democrats, they are hoping to boost their Upper House numbers this election

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/16/2060565.htm?site=elections/federal/2007