By Rich Bowden:

NSW Greens MP Dr John Kaye has warned that probable domination of the state’s Upper House by conservatives at the next election will do nothing to fix the state’s problems.

Dr Kaye said the latest Newspoll, published in the Australian on 25 August, indicated the Coalition will control the house of review with the aid of conservative crossbenchers.

“If today’s opinion poll is translated into Upper House votes, it is likely that the Coalition will end up with 18 seats, the conservative crossbench with 5 members, the Greens with 5 and the ALP will be reduced to 14 members,” he said in a news release.

“On these figures the Coalition will be able to control the Legislative Council with the support of the rightwing crossbench members.”

He added this would have a detrimental impact on a number of progressive causes with deals being made with conservative crossbenchers to implement legislation.

“This could have appalling consequences for the environment and civil rights, with a woman’s right to choose an abortion, the future of marine national parks and gun laws all on the line.

“Just as Labor has done for the past three and a half years, the O’Farrell Coalition will attempt to do deals with the Shooters and Christian Democrats to pass their legislation and block motions that impel government departments to release documents,” he added.

However Dr Kaye said the Greens will look to hold the major parties accountable adding that, despite the worrying trends in the Upper House, the polls point to a big chance of Greens representation in the Lower House for the first time.

“The Greens will be calling on voters to use their Legislative Council vote to make sure that the government is subjected to the checks and balances of an independent house of review. ”The community wants to take a baseball bat to Labor at the ballot box. ”However,  handing over the NSW Upper House to a Coalition government that is beholden to the Shooters and Christian Democrats will do nothing to fix the state’s problems.”

“The  March 2011 election also gives the Greens our best chance of breaking through into the Lower House, with Balmain and Marrickville looking very promising,” Dr Kaye said.

Tags: conservatives nsw, greens nsw, john kaye greens, upper house nsw