Susan Austin, Hobart
A poll published in the Mercury newspaper on February 25 indicated that the Labor Party is likely to win 11 seats in the March 18 state election, the Liberals nine and the Greens five. The Greens, however, are confident of winning six, possibly seven, of the 25 lower house seats.
The Greens have been campaigning on a wide range of issues, including: ending logging in native forests and for a sustainable, value-added timber industry; against the federal Work Choices legislation and for workers' compensation legislation reform; removing poker machines from pubs and clubs; protecting coastlines and wilderness areas; and improving public transport. The Greens have challenged the major parties to support their proposal for fixed, four-year terms of parliament.
The March 2 Mercury reported that the party has "threatened to use its likely balance of power after the state election to force a constitutional crisis and bring down any new government". The same day, however, Tasmanian Greens leader Peg Putt said: "I have never contemplated obstructing a budget, but rather have said that we hope to influence the formulation of budget priorities just as the other parties will want to do."
Putt added: "The only reason we can't be absolute in ruling out blocking supply is because we cannot know whether an extreme proposal such as the sale of the Hydro may be taken by a future government when the vast majority of Australians did not want that to occur, although I can say that such circumstances are a remote and unlikely possibility."
Putt told Green Left Weekly that the Greens are open to negotiations with either major party about forming a coalition. "We are keeping our minds open to the best mechanism in order to foster a constructive working parliament, rather than unilaterally rule out any particular scenario before the vote has even been taken", she said.
Both major parties have said they will not consider a coalition with the Greens and both have been "warning" voters about the dangers of a minority government. A secretive group of "concerned Tasmanian businesses and community people" called "Tasmanians for a Better Future" has funded an advertising campaign supporting the return of a majority government on March 18.
Tasmania's Hare Clark electoral system does not include a formal preference system. Putt told GLW, "The Greens are recommending that people vote 1 to 5 along the Greens ticket and then either stop or vote for any other progressive candidate of their choice". The Socialist Alliance is encouraging people to vote for alliance candidates, then the Greens, then Labor.
A TasPoll published in the February 25 Mercury found that 65% of Tasmanians believe that the state's health system is the most important election issue. Debate has centred around the space crisis at the public Royal Hobart Hospital.
The Greens have pledged to find a site for a new hospital in southern Tasmania. On March 1, Labor Premier Paul Lennon revealed that an agreement signed between the 1998 Liberal government and the Hobart Private Hospital owners committed the government to keeping the Royal Hobart Hospital on its current site, beside the private hospital, until 2018.
The Socialist Alliance candidate for Denison, Linda Seaborn, argues that no part of the public hospital should have been sold off and that the space shortage in the public hospital could be solved by the government taking back Hobart Private Hospital. The Socialist Alliance is organising a "creative action" in the mall on March 16 at 4pm to highlight this demand, she said.
From Green Left Weekly, March 8, 2006.
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