Premier Ben Carroll has declared he would rather \u201cthrow the keys back\u201d than strike a deal with the Greens to form government.<\/p>\n
Seven weeks from the state election, Mr Carroll on Monday delivered his strongest rejection yet of leading a minority government backed by the left-wing party.<\/p>\n
In move that could risk sending Victorians back to the ballot box, the Premier claimed he had \u201cruled out\u201d any agreement with the Greens. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll throw the keys back,\u201d he told ABC Radio.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t be any more clear than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Carroll said he was confident that Labor was going to win Greens seats, noting Labor volunteers had been campaigning in electorates held by the minor party, including Melbourne and Richmond.<\/p>\n
The bold claims have fired up the Greens with Victorian Leader Ellen Sandell describing his comments as \u201carrogant and deluded\u201d. <\/p>\n
They will also heap pressure on Opposition Leader Jess Wilson, who has failed to directly rule out doing a deal with One Nation. <\/p>\n
In March, she rejected the prospect of an alliance with the surging minor party, but in recent months has said she is focused on securing an outright majority.<\/p>\n
On Monday, she rubbished Mr Carroll\u2019s claims that he wouldn\u2019t strike a deal with the Greens. <\/p>\n
\u201cHalf the Labor MPs in the parliament are elected off Greens preferences so just look at where the facts lie,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
If neither Labor nor the Coalition wins the 45 seats needed for a majority in the lower house, a party or coalition could still form government with support from minor parties or independents.<\/p>\n
That support could come in two forms. <\/p>\n
They could strike a formal coalition agreement, or minority government with guarantees of \u201cconfidence and supply\u201d from crossbench MPs.<\/p>\n
\u201cConfidence and supply\u201d means those MPs agree to back the government in confidence motions and on appropriation bills, allowing it continue governing and spend money.<\/p>\n
Carroll Government ministers have made it their mission to tie the Coalition to One Nation, claiming that they would need to join forces to form government.<\/p>\n
Polling over recent months has put the Coalition ahead of Labor. <\/p>\n
However, the opposition has struggled to lift its primary vote above 30 per cent amid a surge in support for One Nation which is polling about a quarter of the vote \u2013 on par with Labor.<\/p>\n
At the disastrous 2022 election, the Coalition\u2019s primary vote was 34 per cent.<\/p>\n
The Greens vote has remained steady on about 14 per cent. <\/p>\n
Ms Sandell slammed Mr Carroll\u2019s comments on Monday as she mirrored her federal Greens Leader David Shoebridge\u2019s claim the Greens were aiming to \u201creplace\u201d Labor. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think Labor is in any position to be making these claims when they\u2019re struggling to even crack 25 per cent of the vote,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems arrogant and deluded to think progressive voters are going to come rushing back to a tired 12-year-old government that\u2019s opening up new gas, demolishing public housing and making life more expensive for Victorians.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not here to prop up Labor, we\u2019re here to replace them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Redbridge pollster and former Labor strategist Kos Samaras said minority government was the \u201cbest-case scenario\u201d for Labor based on current polling.<\/p>\n
He said Mr Carroll could afford to make the bold pledge not to strike a deal with the Greens because the minor party\u2019s voters would overwhelmingly preference Labor anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreens voters, as opposed to Greens members, have consistently preferenced Labor at 85 per cent across most geographies and age groups,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat trend alters very little if the Greens hand out instructions to preference against Labor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Premier Ben Carroll has declared he would rather \u201cthrow the keys back\u201d than strike a deal with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":917112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[412926,405718,381247,412313,484910,130065,146155,161013,134214,398740,484930,403481,484915,484949,463723,376511,484927,6972,432634,484940,484944,484939,484936,484907,178491,64,63,86463,283981,21849,32092,484914,484943,484946,484928,484947,484926,368938,337780,484932,3786,484909,4271,484929,484941,484950,484902,484922,408022,484931,484925,389461,484945,267452,479941,1788,484912,484948,484916,8280,30132,484920,484905,35059,13052,484900,484908,415151,484911,484937,44,60504,483922,255574,408612,460054,1655,484903,7690,401954,484942,469223,22410,484938,484913,484901,484933,484904,161703,484919,382285,23023,11789,378227,484923,484917,456063,392791,460876,274819,384823,460082,484921,407616,484924,464954,484934,484935,484906,393366,6900,484918],"class_list":["post-917111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-s-claim","tag-s-claims","tag-s-comments","tag-s-primary-vote","tag-s-voters","tag-130065","tag-146155","tag-161013","tag-134214","tag-a-deal","tag-a-formal-coalition-agreement","tag-a-majority","tag-a-minority-government","tag-a-party-or-coalition","tag-a-quarter","tag-a-surge","tag-a-tired-12-year-old-government","tag-abc-radio","tag-about-14","tag-an-alliance","tag-an-outright-majority-on","tag-any-agreement","tag-any-position","tag-appropriation-bills","tag-arrogant","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-backlash","tag-ben-carroll","tag-carroll","tag-cent","tag-cent-the-greens-vote","tag-confidence-and-supply","tag-confidence-motions","tag-crossbench-mps","tag-current-polling-he","tag-deluded","tag-electorates","tag-forces","tag-former-labor-strategist-kos-samaras","tag-government","tag-government-polling","tag-greens","tag-greens-leader-ellen-sandell","tag-greens-members","tag-greens-preferences","tag-greens-seats","tag-greens-voters","tag-guarantees","tag-half-the-labor-mps","tag-her-federal-greens-leader-david-shoebridge","tag-his-comments","tag-his-strongest-rejection","tag-instructions","tag-its-primary-vote","tag-labor","tag-labor-nor","tag-labor-volunteers","tag-labor-at","tag-life","tag-march","tag-melbourne-and-richmond-the-bold-claims","tag-minor-parties-or-independents-that-support","tag-minority-government","tag-monday","tag-money-carroll-government-ministers","tag-most-geographies-and-age-groups","tag-mr-carroll","tag-ms-sandell","tag-new-gas","tag-news","tag-one-nation","tag-opposition-leader-jess-wilson","tag-par","tag-preference","tag-premier-ben-carroll","tag-pressure","tag-progressive-voters","tag-public-housing","tag-recent-months","tag-redbridge-pollster","tag-seven-weeks","tag-support","tag-that-trend","tag-the-best-case-scenario","tag-the-45-seats","tag-the-ballot-box","tag-the-bold-pledge","tag-the-coalition","tag-the-disastrous-2022-election","tag-the-facts","tag-the-government","tag-the-greens","tag-the-keys","tag-the-left-wing-party-in-move","tag-the-lower-house","tag-the-minor-party","tag-the-opposition","tag-the-parliament","tag-the-premier","tag-the-prospect","tag-the-state-election","tag-the-surging-minor-party","tag-the-vote","tag-their-mission","tag-these-claims","tag-those-mps","tag-two-forms","tag-victorian-leader-ellen-sandell","tag-victorians","tag-war","tag-words-escalates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}