LovelyRita
16-11-2007, 06:41
THE Greens are within striking distance of winning a Senate seat in Queensland, as support for Pauline Hanson falters.
The latest Morgan poll, released yesterday, also suggests Labor is on track to grab three of the state's six Senate seats.
While the poll indicates the Liberals will retain their two seats, the Greens' Larissa Waters, Nationals stalwart Ron Boswell and Democrats senator Andrew Bartlett will fight it out for the final spot.
According to the poll, Labor's upper house support has dropped marginally to 40 per cent, while the Coalition is up 3 percentage points to 37 per cent.
Support for the Greens has risen to 6.5 per cent, ahead of One Nation founder Ms Hanson, who is down 2 percentage points to 5.5 per cent.
The Democrats are also on 5.5 per cent, up 1 percentage point since the last Senate poll in September.
Based on those figures, the ABC's online senate calculator, which analyses the complex preference deals, gives Labor three seats and the Liberals two, with the final berth going to Ms Waters.
Campaigning with Ms Waters in Brisbane yesterday, Greens Senate leader Bob Brown said the party's prospects in Queensland had improved in recent weeks.
"We're doing very well and the trend in the last couple of weeks is firming for the Greens," he said.
"From my looking at the tea leaves, it's a case of does Queensland return Larissa to the Senate or Ron Boswell. I ask you."
Senator Brown said the preference deals at this election also gave the Greens an advantage.
"I think it's better than we've had before," he said. "It has put us in a stronger position."
The Greens leader said the party had also received more public donations for its campaign than ever before, paying for increased advertising including a television ad to go to air soon.
"There's a different feel about this election," Senator Brown said. "I haven't felt this good certainly since I was elected to the Senate in '96."
On the campaign trail yesterday, Senator Brown called on the major parties to commit to an assessment of the Coral Sea, with the aim of having it declared the world's largest marine park.
He said the Coral Sea was one of the world's unrecognised wonders and needed protecting from future oil and gas interests.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22754967-3102,00.html
Go Larissa!
I really hope that even if we don't get a change in the lower house, we certainly need a change in the Senate. The disturbing amount of control the Coalition has had in the past three or so years needs to stop and we need to restore the balance of power.
The latest Morgan poll, released yesterday, also suggests Labor is on track to grab three of the state's six Senate seats.
While the poll indicates the Liberals will retain their two seats, the Greens' Larissa Waters, Nationals stalwart Ron Boswell and Democrats senator Andrew Bartlett will fight it out for the final spot.
According to the poll, Labor's upper house support has dropped marginally to 40 per cent, while the Coalition is up 3 percentage points to 37 per cent.
Support for the Greens has risen to 6.5 per cent, ahead of One Nation founder Ms Hanson, who is down 2 percentage points to 5.5 per cent.
The Democrats are also on 5.5 per cent, up 1 percentage point since the last Senate poll in September.
Based on those figures, the ABC's online senate calculator, which analyses the complex preference deals, gives Labor three seats and the Liberals two, with the final berth going to Ms Waters.
Campaigning with Ms Waters in Brisbane yesterday, Greens Senate leader Bob Brown said the party's prospects in Queensland had improved in recent weeks.
"We're doing very well and the trend in the last couple of weeks is firming for the Greens," he said.
"From my looking at the tea leaves, it's a case of does Queensland return Larissa to the Senate or Ron Boswell. I ask you."
Senator Brown said the preference deals at this election also gave the Greens an advantage.
"I think it's better than we've had before," he said. "It has put us in a stronger position."
The Greens leader said the party had also received more public donations for its campaign than ever before, paying for increased advertising including a television ad to go to air soon.
"There's a different feel about this election," Senator Brown said. "I haven't felt this good certainly since I was elected to the Senate in '96."
On the campaign trail yesterday, Senator Brown called on the major parties to commit to an assessment of the Coral Sea, with the aim of having it declared the world's largest marine park.
He said the Coral Sea was one of the world's unrecognised wonders and needed protecting from future oil and gas interests.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22754967-3102,00.html
Go Larissa!
I really hope that even if we don't get a change in the lower house, we certainly need a change in the Senate. The disturbing amount of control the Coalition has had in the past three or so years needs to stop and we need to restore the balance of power.