http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22656009-5012863,00.html
Quote: LABOR has lost its chance of securing Family First preferences after moving to stitch up a deal with the Greens.
Greens leader Bob Brown yesterday said a deal to swap preferences with Labor in all states except Tasmania was close to being finalised.
"We're working very hard and we're coming very close to getting a preference arrangement for a swap with the Labor Party," Senator Brown said.
Quote:"It virtually hands the Greens the balance of power in the Senate and control of everything that happens in Australia, which is horrifying," he said.
Senator Fielding said Family First was willing to do a preference deal with the major parties, but Labor walked away from negotiations because they preferred the Greens.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/29/2072639.htm
Quote:Australian Greens leader Bob Brown says his party is moving towards a deal which would see Labor give preferences to the Greens in the Senate.
However, he says it is the first time the Greens in Tasmania will not be directing preferences to either Labor or the Liberals because of both parties' support for the pulp mill and old-growth logging.
Senator Abetz, the Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation, says voters should remember Tasmania's Labor-Green accord.
"People left the state, investment collapsed, the young people lost confidence in Tasmania and they went to the mainland," he said.
"If that were to happen Australia-wide people would have to leave the country and that's not the sort of future I want for Australia."
Quote:But Senator Brown has dismissed the reference to the accord, which Senator Abetz says saw unemployment skyrocket and investment collapse, saying the Greens have alternatives.