Anthony Albanese says he will not negotiate with the Greens after the election

Anthony Albanese says he will not negotiate with the Greens after the election and accused the left-wing party of seeking to make themselves seem ‘more important than they are’.

Greens leader Adam Bandt. Picture: Liam Kidston

Anthony Albanese says he will not negotiate with the Greens after the election and accused the left-wing party of distracting Australians to make themselves seem “more important than they are”.

Ahead of the Greens party room meeting on Monday, the Opposition Leader rejected demands from Adam Bandt to ban all new coal, oil and gas projects ahead of November’s COP27 summit in Egypt in return for their post-election support on climate change legislation.

Mr Albanese said Mr Bandt had one seat in the House of Representatives and “this is just a con for the Greens to talk themselves up”.

“Helen Haines doesn’t talk like that. Bob Katter doesn’t talk like that. Zali Steggall doesn’t talk like that. Any of the other crossbenchers, and I think there’s seven of them, Rebekha Sharkie, don’t talk like that. This is a complete distraction to make people think the Greens are more important than they are,” Mr Albanese told 2GB.

The Labor leader said he would not negotiate with the Greens if he required one additional seat to form government after the election.

The Australian revealed on Monday that Mr Bandt will demand that Labor impose a blanket ban on all new coal, gas and oil projects until November’s COP27 summit in Egypt, with the Greens preparing to ransom Labor on key climate change legislation if they hold the balance of power.

The Greens partyroom will meet on Monday to sign off on the fossil fuels moratorium, which Mr Bandt said was non-negotiable until an agreement was reached with the Opposition Leader, if Labor was to win the election.

While Mr Albanese has talked down Mr Bandt’s influence in the House of Representatives, the Greens would wield power in the Senate and likely be needed to push contentious legislation through the upper house.

The Greens believe on current polling trends they will increase their Senate numbers to 12 by winning spots in Queensland, NSW and South Australia.

Mr Bandt, who says the Greens would seek to improve and not block Labor legislation in the Senate, said “Australia needs to stop opening up new coal and gas mines”.

“We want a pause on coal and gas while talking. It’s a pretty reasonable position. It’s not even about existing coal and gas projects, we’re just saying don’t open up new ones,” he said. “You’ve got to stop pouring petrol on the fire before you can put it out.”

Parliamentary library research commissioned by the Greens indicates that if all 114 oil, gas and coal projects in the pipeline came online, their carbon pollution would “represent the equivalent of 2.5 times Australia’s current emissions”.

Mr Bandt said “after we kick the Liberals out”, he would work with Labor to pass climate legislation before the next UN climate summit and “help boost climate action worldwide”.

“But opening up new coal and gas mines is a problem. We have differences of views about how quickly we should get out of existing coal and gas, but everyone can surely agree that we shouldn’t open up new coal and gas projects,” he said.

“With everyone from the International Energy Agency to the UN saying there must be no new coal and gas projects, this temporary freeze is a modest demand that no sensible government could reasonably refuse.”

Mr Bandt – who is targeting lower house seats in northern NSW, Brisbane and Melbourne – said “the only way we’ll get a pause on new coal and gas projects is with the Liberals out and the Greens in balance of power”.

Existing Greens policies include the rapid phase-out of coal and gas, a 75 per cent emissions reduction target by the end of the decade and net-zero emissions by 2035.

Labor is expected to legislate its 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 target along with other major election policies, including its Rewiring the Nation plan, nat­ional reconstruction fund, new energy apprenticeships and changes to the safeguard mechanism.

Mr Albanese last week accused the Greens of talking “themselves up” ahead of the election. “They have one member of the House of Representatives – the same number as Bob Katter and Helen ­Haines and Rebekha Sharkie, and all of the crossbenchers, of which there’s a whole range there.

“I am searching for a majority Labor government, that is what I’m campaigning for. I am determined to get that. I want the certainty that is there.

“The truth is that there are two options for governments in Australia after the next election. The only political party that can form government in its own right after the next election is the Labor Party. We are the biggest party in the parliament now. And we’re the only political party that can get to 76 seats.”