OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott will today direct the Liberal Party to preference the Greens behind Labor in all seats across the country in a bid to ensure the party is wiped from the lower house of parliament.
It will mean the Greens’ only current lower house MP, Adam Bandt, will almost certainly lose his seat of Melbourne on September 7 – in an election gift to the ALP.
It will also guarantee that Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese keeps his inner-city Sydney seat of Grayndler, which Labor holds with just a 4 per cent margin against the minor party.
News Corporation has learned that Mr Abbott is expected to announce the decision today in Brisbane – in a reversal of its policy in 2010 to put Labor last – and will claim it as a matter of principle of putting deeds to his words.
“You don’t normally go around giving Labor seats. But this was a matter of principle,” one senior Liberal source told News Corporation.
Another senior official source said: “It is critical for Australia’s future that we have a return to strong and stable government.
“Labor-Greens minority government is an experiment that has comprehensively failed.
“Tony has been very clear about this – he will not lead a minority government.
“But Kevin Rudd has refused to make the same commitment. So a vote for Labor is a vote for continuing uncertainty.”
Mr Abbott has already declared that he would not allow the Coalition to form a minority government and would do no deals with independents or minority parties in the improbable event of another hung parliament.
The decision to preference the Greens behind Labor, virtually killing their chances of winning any inner city seats, will put pressure on Kevin Rudd to reveal what preference deals Labor will do with the Greens.
The decision by the Liberals to put Labor last at the 2010 election delivered the Greens their first and only seat in Parliament at a general election, when the left wing minor party took the long-held Labor seat of Melbourne with the help of Liberal preferences.
Mr Rudd has so far not ruled out Labor doing a similar deal to that of his predecessor Julia Gillard in 2010 to form government should the election not deliver a clear majority to either of the major parties.
The decision to concede a seat to Labor less than two weeks into the campaign will be seen as a sign that the Coalition research is pointing to a decisive Coalition victory.
The directive to Liberal Party officials mirrors that made by the Victorian Liberals at the last state election.
Liberal how-to-vote cards will be finalised on Friday and are expected to be mailed out on Sunday ahead of the opening next Tuesday of pre-poll voting
Mr Rudd has not been as vocal as some of his colleagues in the need for Labor to distance itself from the Greens and rule out ever doing deals with the party again.
The Greens achieved their highest ever result in 2010 when it received 12 per cent of the vote – a four per cent swing toward it.
Recent polls have shown the party has slid backwards.