Greens expect to hold Melbourne despite tough fight Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt says he is confident he can retain the seat of Melbourne, the Greens' only lower house seat. "The feedback we've been getting is that we've been doing a good job, both locally and nationally," he said. If Labor and Liberal combine to swap preferences in an attempt to oust the Greens, it will make it a tough fight, but one that we can win. He said an internal analysis had found that even if the Labor and Liberal candidates directed preferences to each other, the Greens would be able to hold the seat provided they received a third of the swing they attained at the 2010 federal election. "If we can do that we'll hold it no matter what," Mr Bandt said. Adam Bandt. The Greens secured the seat of Melbourne in 2010 after getting a primary vote of 36.2 per cent and a two-party preferred vote of 56 per cent against Labor. It was the first time in the electorate's history the seat had gone to a party other than Labor. Cath Bowtell, 2010's losing Labor candidate, is re-contesting the seat. Mr Bandt said two of his staff spent a month in the US following President Barack Obama's re-election campaign and had come back with some new ideas about community engagement. Mr Bandt said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's decision to get rid of the carbon tax would influence how Melburnians voted. "Going back to the last election, climate change was probably the number one issue of the election campaign in Melbourne," he said. People care about global warming a lot. They will be looking very closely at Labor's decision now to allow the biggest polluters to pollute. He said climate change was still the most pressing issue facing Melburnians at this election, along with social inequality. The latest Age/Nielsen poll shows the Greens on track to receive 9 per cent of the primary vote nationwide, down 2 percentage points from last month. However, this change is bounded within the poll's 2.6 per cent margin of error. The primary vote for the Greens in Victoria stands at 12 per cent. In another policy announcement, the Greens have promised to reverse Labor's cuts to universities and put an extra $2 billion into schools funding as part of their election platform. The party has also identified an extra $42.7 billion in revenue that would come from raising taxes on mining companies, putting a levy on the big banks and increasing the tax paid by people with incomes of more than $1 million. "Einstein once said that you cannot solve problems with the same mindset that created them and that's why you need the Australian Greens in Parliament," Greens leader Christine Milne said in Melbourne on Sunday. We care about what Australia will be like in 50 years, not just the next three. The Greens announced four new policies on Sunday that show the party is eager not to be caught on the hop by any sudden announcement about the election date. The four new costed policies are: ■ Increasing the unemployment and youth assistance payments by $50 a week as well an extra $40 a week for single parents. ■ Increasing funding for schools by $2 billion. ■ Increasing investment in research and development. ■ And increasing funding for threatened species. With Stephanie Peatling