The four Greens groups in Eden-Monaro – Bega Valley, Braidwood, Eurobodalla and Queanbeyan-Monaro – have now determined the order of preferences on their How-To-Vote card (HTV) for the August 21 Federal election.
“While it is no secret that, following negotiations between The Greens and the ALP, Greens will allocate preferences to the ALP ahead of the Coalition in a number of key marginal seats, Greens in Eden-Monaro could not finalise our decision until we knew the final list of candidates,” said Catherine Moore, Greens candidate for Eden-Monaro.
“Now that we know that there are eight candidates and that Ray Buckley, an Independent and active participant in the Transition Towns movement has fulfilled the AEC requirements and has been able to nominate, we will be putting him in no. 2 position on our HTV. Ray shares many common values with the Greens as we attempt to transform our communities and economy along sustainable principles.
“He will be followed by Frank Fragiacomo (Independent), Mike Kelly (ALP), David Gazard (LP), and then the remaining three candidates from the LDP, CDP and FF.
“This decision is the outcome of a long process of grassroots discussions within and amongst the four local Greens groups in Eden-Monaro,” said Catherine.
“This recommendation reflects the view of Greens members that while Labor has not delivered on a number of key issues, they remain closer to the Greens in some policy areas than does Tony Abbott’s Coalition.
“The four groups agreed that Eden-Monaro could be part of national negotiations to ensure Labor did not preference conservative minor parties in the Senate, as they did in 2004 to elect Family First’s Steven Fielding. We are happy to report that these negotiations were successful.
“Contrary to some suggestions about the preference negotiations between The Greens and the ALP, I can quite categorically say that the arrangement involves only a swap of Greens’ Lower House preferences in a number of seats in return for ALP Senate preferences going to The Greens in all states and territories,” said Catherine.
“It’s as simple as that.
“The negotiations reflected Greens principles and did not involve any request or any concession on policy issues from the Labor Government.
“Whatever a party might recommend on its HTV, in the end, voters need to remember that they hold the pencil, and can number the squares in whatever order that they choose. We hope that they will of course put The Greens in first position, noting that if The Greens candidate is not elected, the vote will flow on to the party of their choice.
“As long as people number all squares, their vote will be valid. The Greens uphold the right of everyone to make a formal vote that best reflects their political wishes.”