Labor ‘preparing to sell out members in upper house’ in Greens preference deal
There is turmoil within Labor as the party weighs up a deal with the Greens, which could risk election losses for upper house MPs and crossbenchers.
State Election
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Victorian Labor is weighing up a new preference deal with the Greens to shore up their support in key seats, in a move which could risk election losses for upper house MPs and crossbenchers.
The Herald Sun understands discussions are underway about Labor delivering preferences to the party in upper house areas such as North East Metropolitan, Northern Victoria and Eastern Victoria.
In return, preferences could flow back to them in lower house seats under threat from independent candidates.
Melton and surrounding parts of the western suburbs are considered in play to independents, while teal candidates are battling in Hawthorn and Caulfield.
One person aware of discussions said the party was “preparing to sell out their members in the upper house and sell out their allies”.
The move could endanger Labor MPs who are lower on the party’s ticket and need strong voting results to reach the quota for second or third spots.
Upper house MPs who have sat on the crossbench would also be under threat.
In the 2018 poll, 10 micro-party MPs entered the Legislative Council partly because Victoria’s group voting rules require preference agreements for votes above the line and allow for complex deals.
Labor favoured at least one of these candidates above the Greens in multiple seats, contributing to their victories.
At the time, Greens Leader Samantha Ratnam said these deals had cost them.
Changes to the 2018 preference arrangements could reverse some of these results and deliver the Greens multiple new MPs.
But there has also been internal angst about the idea of preferencing the party in regional areas with coal and logging industries.
The Greens wants to end native logging in Victoria faster and have long campaigned against coal-fired generation.
Labor has been also been a vocal critic of the party during its last term and is fighting off serious challenges against them in Richmond, Northcote and Albert Park.
A Victorian Labor spokeswoman said:
“Preference arrangements will be finalised in the usual way.”
A Victorian Greens spokeswoman said voters should control their own preferences.
“But under Labor’s upper house voting system parties have to submit a group voting ticket,” she said.
“The Greens haven’t decided our order yet but we will be preferencing progressive parties first in line with our values.
“Voters need to be careful who they vote for because with group voting tickets their vote could end up with a party with very different values.”
Eureka candidate Michael Ray, running as an independent in Melbourne’s west, said it would hurt his chances further if the Greens preferenced Labor in the seat.
“It’s another game of keeping all the candidates,” he said.
“They benefited from group voting and now they want to to pull the drawbridge up.
“They’ve already stacked the deck against independents with how elections are funded.”
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