Veteran political commentator, Barry Prismall recently wrote: “As the next State Election slowly approaches, Premier Lara Giddings will be pressured to pick a fight with Greens leader Nick McKim, just as the Michael Field and Tony Rundle governments did with Bob Brown and Christine Milne.” [Examiner 10 July 2012]
‘Of course,’ Prismall says, ‘the Greens want to hang on because majority government does nothing for their novel influence as Greens ministers. The trouble for Ms Giddings is that her tired, old government is so unpopular it needs Greens preferences to avoid a landslide defeat.’
‘It will be her call as to whether she abandons the Greens deal, and she risks annihilation for the sake of her Party’s brand and future.’
[The History according to Prismall: In 1991, after two chaotic years in power, Tasmanian Labor premier Michael Field provoked his Greens Accord partners with forest resource security legislation and increased woodchip quotas. He pre-empted the Greens threats to bring down his minority government by calling a snap election in January 1992.
While Labor was thrashed at the election, the Greens brushed aside the result and retained their five seats. Then in 1996 Liberal premier Tony Rundle agreed to form a minority government at arm’s length from the Greens, after Labor refused. Rundle called another snap election two years into a 4-year term [in 1998 after the Labor and Liberal Parties agreed and voted for legislation to reduce the representation in the Lower House from 35 representatives to 25.]
As a result of this the Greens were reduced to only one representative in the Parliament – Peg Putt in Denison from 1998 to 2002. They were almost wiped out by the smaller Parliament, but returned with a vengeance in the 2010 election with five representatives in the 25 seat parliament, and another minority Government with Labor. ]
