The Greens Are Ropeable After Getting Shafted By A New Vote Preference Deal

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Published

June 12, 2016

Ah, politics. The great frozen rubbish iceberg of society, where every dodgy doing that bobs above the surface – a candidate failing to declare their business interest in a Frankston brothel, anyone? – is outweighed by a boggling amount of sneaky, snarky dealings underneath.

On this fine day, three weeks away from our full-on double dissolution election, The Greens are ropeable over the latest backroom agreement between Liberal and Labor – in a slew of key seats nationwide, both of the big players in federal politics have agreed to preference their largest opposition over Australia’s go-to third parties.

That means despite all the frantic bickering that has always and always will consume Lib & Lab, they’ve managed to figure out another method of dictating those sweet, sweet flow-on votes.

As it stands, the Liberals will endeavour to preference the Greens dead last in every Lower House seat; where that isn’t possible, they’ll still come in after Labor. That’s good for the Red team.

In exchange, Bill Shorten’s gang will make sure Malcolm Turnbull’s team come before the Nationals in a few seats where the traditionally rural party are stumping up a serious challenge. That’s good for the Blue team.

Prime Minister Turnbull unveiled the deals today, saying the system was devised “in the national interest.” Turnbull said the move was devised so we’d all avoid “an unstable, chaotic, Labor-Greens minority Government as we’ve seen before.”

Greens leader Richard Di Natale had some choice words for the deal, especially after it seemed his party was finally – and oddly – cozying up to the Liberals a lil’ earlier in the year.

Alas:

He labeled the move “a dirty deal between the Labor and the Liberal Party, the Coles and Woolies of politics” that has “nothing to do with principle.”

Greens MP Adam Bandt, who ended up in the seat of Melbourne thanks to some swish preference dealing in 2010 (with the Liberals, no less), even went as far to say the Labor Party had “sold its soul” over the move.