Greens may run open tickets in Victorian state election if Labor holds to east-west link vow
By Farrah Tomazin
February 23, 2014 — 3.00am
The Victorian Greens are threatening not to direct preferences to Labor in marginal seats at this year's state election unless the ALP pledges to rip up contracts on the east-west link if it wins government.
In a move that will inflame tensions between the two parties, the Greens are considering running open tickets in narrowly held Labor seats because of the opposition's refusal to stop the $8 billion tunnel once contracts are signed.
The Greens in Victoria have usually directed preferences towards Labor, including in 17 out of 20 marginal seats at the 2010 state election.
But federal Melbourne MP Adam Bandt said there was a growing desire within the party to shift: ''The Liberals are a bunch of environmental vandals who will wreck what's good about Melbourne … but a majority Labor government will also go ahead with the same east-west tollway as long as the Liberals have signed the contracts first.
''I will argue that unless Labor changes its position and agrees with the Greens to stop the east-west tollway, the Greens shouldn't direct preferences to either Labor or Liberal.''
Under an open ticket system, voters would be told ''vote 1'' for the Greens, but no preferences would be suggested.
Labor leader Daniel Andrews has consistently said that while he does not support the east-west link, he would not rip up contracts once they were signed because of sovereign risk.
Farrah Tomazin
Farrah Tomazin is a senior journalist and investigative reporter for The Age, with interests in politics, social justice, and legal affairs.