NSW election: Greens expect call for support from Labor

Greens NSW are confident Labor will want their support in forming a minority government.

NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann. Picture: AAP

Greens NSW are confident Labor will want their support in forming a minority government and their price includes the end of coal and gas in the state, scrapping the public sector wages cap and introduction of cashless gaming cards.

Ahead of Saturday’s poll, both major parties have ruled out striking deals with crossbenchers to form government but Greens MP Cate Faehrmann said she was confident Labor leader Chris Minns would seek their support if the ALP failed to secure a majority.

“It’s nonsense to think Chris Minns won’t be picking up the phone to seek Greens support the minute there’s any prospect of a hung parliament,” she said.

“We’ve been working with Labor to stop some of the worst excesses of this government for years and both are as keen as the other to see it gone.

“The Greens have been transparent about what we need to see from Labor should they seek our support to govern.”

Ms Faehrmann said Greens NSW would also seek introduction of rent controls and a ban on unfair evictions, the end of native forest logging, introduction of nurse-to-patient ratios and pay rises for public sector workers.

The Greens also want anti-protest laws to be repealed and a community-led Truth and Treaty process.

The Greens currently hold the lower house seats of Ballina, Balmain and Newtown.

A NSW Labor spokesman said the party would not do any deals with any members of the crossbench to form government.

“We’re campaigning every day for a majority Labor government, and we’re asking the ­people of NSW to give us a majority so we can begin the hard work to fix our education system and end the crisis in our hospitals,” he said.

Labor needs nine seats to claim a majority and could pick up the seats of East Hills, Penrith, Goulburn, Holsworthy, Winston Hills, Parramatta, South Coast and Monaro.

There are six independents currently in the NSW Legislative Assembly: Helen Dalton in Murray, Alex Greenwich in Sydney, Joe McGirr in Wagga Wagga, Greg Piper in Lake Macquarie, Roy Butler in Barwon and Phil Donato in Orange.

There are also several teal independents running, of whom Jacqui Scruby in Pittwater is considered the most likely to win a seat.

She said her negotiation priorities would be reform around pokies and planning laws, stopping the PEP-11 offshore gas exploration licence and improving schools, hospitals and roads in her electorate.

“I take this responsibility very seriously, and will work with the major parties and crossbenchers to make sure NSW is governed from the sensible centre, with decisions based on evidence and community expectations,” she said.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott said the Labor and Greens parties hadn’t changed since the federal Greens ended their alliance with Julia Gillard in 2013.

“I hope people will think long and hard before they vote, about what it means to have a Labor government dependent on the Greens,” said Mr Abbott, a resident of Sydney’s northern beaches.

“In 2010 in Canberra, it meant a carbon tax that was socialism masquerading as environmentalism,” he said.