Greens campaigning hard on East West Link in Melbourne inner-city seats

Date
    October 18, 2014


The Victorian Greens have pledged to continue to campaign against the East West Link in marginal seats despite Labor promising to scrap the project if elected.      

As the Greens aim to win a balance of power in the upcoming state election, Victorian Greens leader Greg Barber said the party was campaigning fiercely about the East West Link in a number of inner-city marginal seats.

The seats of Melbourne, Richmond, Brunswick, Northcote and Prahran were being targeted in a door-knocking campaign this weekend, Mr Barber said at a campaign event on Saturday in Melbourne.

All are held by Labor, except the seat of Prahran, which is held by the Liberal's Clem Newton-Brown.

Mr Barber said voters were disaffected with what the major parties were offering and Victorians were concerned about the controversial East West Link plans.

"It's an enormous waste of money that could be used to provide a dream public transport system, not just for the inner city, but for the suburbs, the growth suburbs and regional towns and even country areas," Mr Barber said.         

In the hotly contested seat of Melbourne, Greens candidate Ellen Sandell criticised the opposition's stance on the East West Link.

"Labor has only softened their position, they haven't actually changed it," Ms Sandell said.

Last month The Age revealed if Labor won the state election, it would use the courts to render the contract for the eastern section of the East West Link invalid.

"[Labor] have broken so many public transport promises before and they've changed their position on the East West toll road many times," Ms Sandell said.

"It was their idea in the first place and now they're saying they will outsource their position to a court conveniently after the election."

Ms Sandell said the Greens campaign also focused on taking action on climate change.

The Greens are running a candidate in all 128 seats across Victoria.         

Mr Barber said the party had been "butting against the glass ceiling for quite a few elections now".

"We don't need much of an increase to start winning more seats [in the] upper and lower house, just a percent or two in some cases, and that could put us in the balance of power in both houses," Mr Barber said.      

Federal MP for Melbourne Adam Bandt said support for the Greens had increased in Victoria in 2013.

"If the results of the federal election are repeated at a state level then we're in with a good chance of winning lower house seats here at the state election," Mr Bandt said.

Mr Barber was tight lipped about preference deals and said the Greens would "cross that bridge when we come to it".

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/greens-campaigning-hard-on-east-west-link-in-melbourne-innercity-seats-20141018-1183vv.html#ixzz3GWrNxfLW

Looking forward to the November election.  When the good people of Victoria, boot the Napthine liberal government out of power.      

So all those peak hour commuters trapped in gridlock every morning can look forward to many more years of the same thanks to the Greens.  The party for unemployment, flaying the tax-payer and overspending other people's money.

I guess those grid-locked commuters are mostly workers that pay net tax.  Already no friends of the Greens at all.