Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Di Natale, I really am offended when I see you quoted in The Weekly Timesa great regional Victorian newspaper—talking about the interests of our communities out there, and yet you have backed away from your own principled position. It is absolutely hypocritical. When I also look at the adjoining seat of Polwarth, where the National Party candidate, David O'Brien, has been running for election, the Greens candidate, Joe Miles, has given his Liberal Party opponent a surprise preference grading. He will give his preference to the Libs candidate above the National Party candidate. This is despite the Greens not having a clear policy position on a landowner's right to refuse.

I am just quoting from a media article in The Standard:

As Polwarth is likely to be a two-party preferred race between the Liberal and National parties, the Greens preferences would play a role in determining the winner if no candidate receives an outright majority.

The Greens received 11 per cent of the Polwarth primary vote at last year’s state election.

Eleven per cent for the Greens is a lot of votes in a country electorate. They clearly do not care about a landowner's right to refuse, because, if they did, they would not have done the preference deal they have done. I think the Greens have put politics above principles. It is about time the Australian public and the good voters in Polwarth and South-West Coast actually heard the truth about the bleeding-heart Greens and their principled positions: when they are asked to put their money where their mouth is, when they are actually faced with a choice of being able to make real change and put people into parliament who will vote for that principled position, they back away from it every time for the sake of cheap political gain and the benefits and the interests of the inner urban elite. Once again, I rest my case.

Question agreed to.