Adam Bandt says Labor and the Greens should co-operate to establish a ‘progressive’ parliament

Adam Bandt urges Anthony Albanese to learn from the past and co-operate with the Greens if there’s no clear winner after the election.

Greens leader Adam Bandt. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Adam Bandt has urged Anthony Albanese to learn from the past and co-operate with the Greens if there is no clear winner after the election, warning it would be a mistake for Labor to act as if it had a majority in the event of a hung parliament. 

As the 52-year-old approaches his five-year anniversary in the party’s top job, he also revealed he would ask his colleagues for their support to reappoint him as Greens leader following the poll, saying he had unfinished business on climate change and getting dental and mental health into Medicare for all Australians.

Citing a wishlist that will be closely watched by the resources sector, big business and climate groups, Mr Bandt nominated his top demands during hung parliament negotiations as stopping new coal and gas mines and the electrification of households and businesses.  He would also prioritise these policies in the new year and next parliament.

While the Prime Minister has ruled out “doing deals” with the Greens if Labor cannot form government in its own right, Mr Bandt – who won’t attempt to enter any power-sharing arrangement with the Coalition – said those who wanted a “progressive” government would need to work together.

“It would be a mistake for a Labor Party that doesn’t have a majority to act as if it did,” the Greens leader told The Australian in an end-of-year interview.

“There’s obligations on everyone to work together and certainly if there’s a power-­sharing parliament, I would expect Peter Dutton as Leader of the Opposition to try hard to tear it down and I think co-operation among those of us who want to see a progressive government would be important.

“Of course a government and a parliament should run for a full term of three years. That’s a long time and it’s one lesson that everyone can take from previous parliaments – we’ll get more done if there is co-operation.”

Unlike in the ACT, where the Greens had for years shared government with Labor, Mr Bandt said federally the party wouldn’t seek any formal coalition and would remain “separate” on the crossbench, “but having stable, effective and progressive government will be important. That could take a variety of forms. We’re open-minded as to the best way of achieving that.”

Pressed on whether there was more hostility towards the Greens after a year in which the party failed to pick up some targeted seats or lost seats it already held in state and territory elections, Mr Bandt said the party had pushed Labor hard on housing and “pushing isn’t always pretty”.

The concession came after he defended the party’s Middle East policies, insisting Labor was slowly moving towards the Greens’ position on the Israel-Hamas war.

He offered a somewhat more conciliatory approach to Mr Albanese going forward while vowing to attack Labor on climate and its record on emissions reduction. “We accepted in this parliament we’ve pushed the government as hard as we can and now it’s time to focus on keeping Peter Dutton out,” Mr Bandt said.

“From here on in, we’ll be offering a very hopeful vision about how to make Australia a place where everyone can afford a roof over their head, afford to go and see the doctor and where we don’t go to every summer worrying about how many ­people are going to die in a heatwave or bushfires.

“There’s a real sense this (next) parliament could be one where significant changes are made that tackle the climate crisis and make life better for ­people. And it really fills up with more voices in parliament and a growing sense that we need to tackle some of the underlying causes of the housing crisis and the climate crisis. It really feels like this next parliament could be one where we get a lot done for the country.”

As well as holding the Greens’ record four lower house seats of Melbourne, Brisbane, Griffith and Ryan, the party will target the electorates of Richmond in NSW, Macnamara and Wills in Victoria, Sturt in South Australia and Perth in Western Australia.

Mr Bandt said the list may become narrower or wider as the election, which is due by May, gets closer and acknowledged there was hard work ahead of him if the 2022 poll wasn’t to be the party’s best ever result.

“I’ve got to work hard. Since parliament’s risen, I’ve been in Sturt, I’ve been in Richmond, we’ll be campaigning hard in January,” he said.

“One of the things I’ve tried to do is ensure people know we will fight just as hard to improve their economic circumstances and material lives as we’ll fight on climate and the environment.”