Green heart attack for NSW Labor
BY ROGER HANNEY
The New South Wales election is still a few weeks away, but already the campaign for Labor’s formerly safe seats of Balmain and Marrickville has been dominated by Green political celebrities, leader Bob Brown and Melbourne’s Adam Bandt, the Greens’ first federal Lower House MP.
Brown’s visit was low-key, taking in a community BBQ in Haberfield where he spoke alongside Leichhardt Mayor and Balmain candidate Jamie Parker and Marrickville Mayor and candidate Fiona Byrne.
“The Greens have set our sights on the Inner West seats of Balmain and Marrickville, once Labor’s heartland,” said Brown.
“This is a big battle, but the Greens are on the rise and winning these seats is a real possibility.”
In the final week of February, Bandt and WA Greens Senator Scott Ludlam visited Marrickville to launch Byrne’s campaign office at 274 Illawarra Rd, Marrickville. Bandt also joined Byrne in Newtown for a King Street walkthrough.
Addressing media behind State Parliament at the end of his visit, Bandt drew parallels between his experience as the Member for Melbourne and his impressions of the Sydney.
“There are many similarities between my seat of Melbourne and the Inner West seats of Balmain and Marrickville. Both are home to progressive voters, in areas once dominated by Labor.”
“It has been a privilege to represent the people of Melbourne in Canberra,” he continued, “taking into the Parliament issues and values that are important to them like equal pay, marriage equality, and real action on climate change.”
Candidates Byrne and Parker spoke with appreciation for the newly-minted MP’s support, and hope that Sydney voters will usher in change at the state election in the same way that Melbourne voters did at a federal level.
“We’re hoping to repeat his success in Marrickville this March,” said candidate Byrne. “His influence so far in Federal Parliament shows what a Greens lower house MP can achieve.”
