FED:Greens can deal with hung parly: Brown

AAP General News (Australia)
08-20-2010
FED:Greens can deal with hung parly: Brown

HOBART, Aug 20 AAP - The Greens are the only party with the experience to handle a
hung federal parliament, Greens leader Bob Brown says.

The Tasmanian senator says the Greens have also shown they are "responsible" on the
economy, having helped save the country from recession by carrying Labor's second stimulus
package through the Senate.

With the polls all pointing to a knife-edged result, the historically rare prospect
has arisen of neither party gaining a majority in the lower house.

Senator Brown said his party would be well equipped to deal with that outcome, with
he and fellow Greens senator Christine Milne both having served in minority Tasmanian
governments.

"If there were to be a balance of power in the lower house, then we would use all our
experience - and it's greater than the other parties - to ensure that Australians get
the best possible outcome," Senator Brown told reporters in Hobart on Friday.

"If it was to happen, there can be no more experienced team in Australian history."

If the Greens were to win lower house seats, it would make things tougher for the Liberals
to form government, he said.

"(Melbourne candidate) Adam Bandt has said if he's elected and he's in that situation
- and it's quite unlikely - that he's not going to install an Abbott government."

Speaking on ABC radio on Friday, Senator Brown said his party was responsible for helping
save the country from recession.

"It was the Greens who put through the stimulus package ... shielded Australia from
recession and saved hundreds of thousands of jobs", Senator Brown said.

"We have got a responsible record."

The Greens, along with two other crossbench senators, supported Labor's second economic
stimulus package in 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis.

The coalition voted against the second package after supporting the first one.

Senator Brown predicts the Greens will add to their five Senate seats in Saturday's election.

Doing so would give them a stronger mandate in the next parliament to argue for a proper
return on resources, more education funding, high-speed rail, and to protect forests and
a carbon tax, he said.

"The growing Green vote will be taken note of by the government, but the Greens will
be reasonable and responsible about this."

Senator Brown rejected suggestions that a vote for the Greens was a vote for Labor.

"When you are voting "green" you are voting to elect Greens into the parliament, to
take it up to whoever is the next government," he said.

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KEYWORD: POLL10 BROWN UPDATE

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