It looks like the Greens have realised that they have milked as much as they can from the Gillard government in the current parliament and are calling over.
Greens leader Christine Milne says her party’s agreement with Labor is effectively over, citing a string of Government policies including its refusal to redesign the mining tax.
In a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra, Senator Milne says it has become clear that Labor no longer has the “courage or the will” to work together on a shared national agenda.
So the break up is on – but Milne isn’t using the old, “it’s not you, it’s me’ line.
“Labor has effectively ended its agreement with the Greens,” Senator Milne told the audience.
“Well so be it, but we will not allow Labor’s failure to uphold the spirit of our agreement to advance the interests of Tony Abbott.
So …
We will not walk away from the undertakings we gave not only to the Prime Minister, but to the people of Australia, and that was – to deliver confidence and supply until the Parliament rises for the election.
So it’s over but the Greens will hold up their end of the bargain.
Obviously the Greens reckon the ALP brand is so toxic that it doesn’t pay to maintain the relationship. So between now and the election we can expect to see the Greens chip away at the left of the ALP.
Update: Phil Coorey at the AFR has more:
Greens leader Christine Milne told the National Press Club on Tuesday that by refusing to toughen the mining tax and reduce fossil fuel subsidies for miners, continuing to embrace coal seam gas, and failing to protect the Tarkine forest in Tasmania, the government had in effect walked away from the agreement.
…
The government was unperturbed by the announcement, believing it rids it of the Greens bogey and emphasising that it puts jobs first.“This is a matter for Christine Milne and the Greens. We will always be the party that puts jobs, growth and work first,’’ a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.
Proof if ever it were needed that the Slapper need not have given the Greens anything for their ‘support’.
The suggestion that they had to compromise with the Greens in order to form government was always laughable
Good Lord.
The Greens are now embarrassed to be seen with Gillard?
ALP and Greens will stick together when it comes down to it. It’s all just words to appease the Greens members.
Its only words, and words from the grandstanding Greens at that.
Its not over once the moving truck has removed the clothes and furniture from the house.
Nah it’s never over, the Greens will always vote with Labor on anything major.
This is an attempt at a bit of product differentiation before Sept 14.
So if we get a repeat of 2010 election the greens will not side with Labor? Who are they trying to fool?
For this marriage yes.
For Olive and Goose, it ain’t over till Pigsy Howes fronts up on Lateline and tells the world what a fracking Big Swinging Dick he is for making and breaking prime ministers.
Come on Pigsy, the clock’s tickin’!
It’s over – but we’re still going to live together, have sex, pool our income and keep the same surname. Who do these fucking turkeys think they’re fooling?
An epitome of Milne’s speech:
They’re still guaranteeing confidence and supply, and so nothing more than a strategic manoevre.
Candy – I agree. The Greens are just the Left-Left faction of the ALP. They can’t leave!
Candy is right.
It shortly will be time for the Greens to start donning koala suits to divert attention away from their Marxist policies. And it gives the disingenuous voter a cover to exercise their true allegiance to the extreme Left.
The ABC, particularly the AM program, has swung into full campaigning mode this week; the miserable Ms Milne was allowed to spruik her drivel uninterrupted this morning. With the ALP exuding a putrifying stench across Australia, be prepared for the ABC to redouble its efforts to slip votes sideways from the Greens to Labor.
Exactly the sort of cynical fibbing that is driving the polls south. Yes, we’re all just a bunch of mugs out here in the real world.
Tactically, isn’t this the best possible time for the Greens to totally pull out support and force an election?
After all, the polls are looking bad for Labor. The Greens could at least make off with as many lifeboats as they can jumping off this shipwreck.
I mean, the LNP can currently count two groups out:
1) The Rusted-Ons (and we are talking some rust here)
2) The ‘Ones That Don’t Like Abbott’
Surely the Greens could pull out now and make a mad scoop for group 2?
Furthermore the Greens could kick that fat shit pig Albanese out of his own seat. I can’t wait til September for that to happen.
No confidence motion?
Would you trust these Lefties to ever tell the truth – whether they’re in the Greens or Labor?
I think they have collectively done the sums and figured that by formally splitting they’ll shore up their votes respectively.
Milne thinks she’ll retrieve the brain dead ‘doctors’ wives’ who couldn’t stomach voting for Gillard yet are still too consumed with self loathing over their super-remunerated pampered lives to vote conservative, while Gillard will open her arms up again to the ‘working class’ drones who scurried away to the Coalition because they couldn’t stomach power sharing with the radical commie nutjobs in the environmental movement.
It seems all too convenient for both of these parties of parasites.
Seeing Milne announced a divorce it is time to tally up the assets for the split.
If this is for real Labor would release the Treasury costing of the Greens policies which has been held as a critical state secret which is exempted from FOI.
Does anyone really give a rodent’s?
As already noted it will make no difference to the workings of parliament in the short term and will become even more irrelevant once labor and the greenfilth are are destroyed at the next election.
However, it does give the loathsome milne an excuse to bloviate about how stupendously awesome her marxist brethren are.
Stick a sock in it dearie, no one’s listening…
Not if the Liberals preference the greenfilth last.
It’s very likely to happen, in both albansleazeyville and melbourne (and Sydney), so as to ensure the greenfilth are rendered irrelevant.
Will no one think of the children!
Oh wait ..
Hmmm… Are they postioning themselves to pull the rug out from under Labor and force an election before August [and so retain their current control of the Senate?]
I’d say fcuk-em – make my day. Repeal the MRRT / Carbon Tax on day one of the sitting of the new Parliament – and if it’s blocked go the Double D straight away labeling them as anti-democratic obstructionists. If it’s passed – then you’ll still have a half Senate election by July of next year – just in time to get a few Royal Commission outcomes to ensure NOBODY in their right minds would vote for the left.
The greenslime were always going to pretend to leave in a huff six months before the election. It means nothing.
How’s the stability.
I think this raises some serious questions about Tony Abbott’s role in all this.
Hilarious. Unfortauntely I can imagine the IRL Michael Caton saying these things with a straight face.
Where will Green preferences go now?
This is now becoming as much fun as November-December 1975.
Meanwhile:
Tubbsy can say what she likes. Abbott and Loughnane have all the photos they need for the election campaign.
Like Rabz says, who gives a shit? This, like the greens and labor, is complete bollocks and irrelevent. It changes nothing.
How could she be surprised? A ‘shared national agenda’ with the Greens in an election year is the political equivalent of sharing bodily fluids with a promiscuous, needle-sharing, IV drug user.
It might be over in parliament but it doesn’t matter. Neither Bandt nor the Greens senators are going to vote with the Libs.
It might not be over when the election is on. Labor wants Green prefs in the House, while the Greens want Labor prefs in the Senate.
The smart heads in Labor are saying they’ll get Green prefs anyway, so there’s no need to do a deal. I hope that’s right.
Talk about the “un-flushable turd”!
Now Juliar has this big Tasmanian brown movement jammed in her hyper-bowl, stinking up the joint until 14th September.
It won’t make the stink any worse than Juliar and co have already made it, what with police investigations into her activities by the police in 3 States; the charges hanging over former National A.L.P. President, Mike Williamson; the charges against Craig Thomson; the charges against Peter Slipper; the A.W.U. scandal; boat people; massive deficit; jobless numbers; business closures; skyrocketing utility prices; petrol prices; carbon tax lies; etc, etc.
I can’t wait till 14th September when the electorate breaks out the political “Drain o” and the large plunger, and waves goodbye to the A.L.P. and their brown movement for good.
I suspect someone in the Greens made the mistake of commissioning an internal poll, took one look at it and said ‘Oh Sh^t!!!’
Milne has the charisma of a gangrenous sloth, people notice little things like that.
You question has merit, Arnold.
And it’s straight out of the sleazy rule book they read from. “Whatever it Takes.”
Sorry. Arnost.
aaaaaahahahahahahaha Champagne Comedy, well done that man.
LOL. For anyone who remembers Fast Forward, she reminds me of Marg Downey’s character:
“I’m Virginia Hardfaced-Bitch, so shut up”
Sorry, Gina Hardfaced Bitch
http://www.vegemitevix.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/fast91_money2.jpg
A character I’ve always maintained was modelled on this noted meeja legend…
“I’m Virginia Plasticinefaced-Bitch, so shut up, Barnaby”
I’m with you Ant. I think it’s just a tactic. They’ll denouce eachother between now and the election and then it’ll be right back into bed again.
It’s to limit the damage of ‘a vote for Labor/Green is a vote for Green/Labor’ message.
I’d like someone to ask that dumbarse bimbo Milne what sort of circumstances would have to arise for the Greens to vote against Labor in a confidence motion.
If there aren’t any, on what basis is the agreement dissolved?
FIFH
“We will always be the party that puts
jobs, growth and work the AWUmy fat arse first,’’ a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.FIFYB
You have a point there…
The Greens are pissed off because, by today on the 95th anniversary, Labor haven’t past Australias “ Fundamental Law of Land Socialisation ” in full.
( almost, but not in full )
Maybe. But Tebbutt and Albanese would be Sharon & Ferret.
Yeah, right.
Jobs = lack thereof
Growth = of upwardly spiraling national debt
Work = hang on to it, if you’re lucky you’ll keep it
Do us all a favour Gillard and stop fucking trying, you are totally incompetent.
This is the way of the modern progressive who, of course, opposes progress.
At Tim Blair’s blog, for instance, we see an awarmist protester’s account of her pious plan (amid much snow), to shout that the world is warming catastrophically, which featured her decision to take photographs with the aid of:
She carried her one-legged tripod to the protest, perhaps, attached to the back of her two-wheeled tricycle.
This is the sort of thinking which leads to a president, who allegedly believes in reducing debt, doing so by the novel stratagem of raising debt: “It’s a deficit-raising deficit reduction!”
Killing people is wrong, so he’ll bomb innocent people with unarmed drones: “It’s a non-peaceful peace machine!”
The way to be the most transparent administration in history, apparently, is by being totally opaque!
The Gillard government ensures free speech by doing its utmost to eliminate free speech. The cowardly State governments agree that it’s too dangerous to allow someone to say that Islamic extremism poses dangers.
We are all equal, but some of us are more equal than others. Freedom is slavery.
It makes you laugh doesn’t it Deadman? By simple definition a tripod has THREE legs, a one legged item would be a unipod but then comprehension has never been a leftists strong suit.
Surely Christine Milne’s major problem is her menopause? She’s more to be pitied really; she can’t help herself. I’m told patches are really good