27 November 2011
By COLIN BETTLES
NSW Nationals MP Fiona Nash says the Australian Greens are "delusional" for thinking they are becoming more popular in the rural Australia than the Coalition.
Senator Nash expressed outraged at comments from Greens leader Bob Brown earlier this month, following the passing of the carbon tax legislation through the Federal Senate.
The Greens and Nationals engaged in a mild game of brinkmanship outside the Senate immediately after the vote, in an attempt to be the first to express their opinions to the media about the landmark result.
Asked by Rural Press if farmers and people on the land would get a better deal out of the carbon tax legislation than what they currently have, Senator Brown said they would.
But he also added the Greens were the "party of choice" on climate change in rural Australia, due to the Coalition’s lacklustre performance.
"One of the reasons why the Greens' stocks have been growing very rapidly in the bush is our strong action to curb climate change," he said.
"The great drought of the last decade turned (opinion); people in the bush know about it.
"They know the climate is changing and they want people who will give them action.
"They look to the National Party and find them inactive - in fact counteractive.
"They look to the Liberal Party and find the same, so more and more people in the bush are voting Green instead."
The Greens currently hold the balance of power in the Federal Senate which helped pass the carbon tax legislation - taking it beyond the point where the government’s former Emissions Trading Scheme failed.
The party ran 150 candidates for lower house seats at the 2010 Federal election and won only one seat, with Adam Bandt taking Melbourne from Labor.
Senator Nash said claims the Greens are rapidly becoming popular in the bush proved they are delusional.
"If we had ever wondered if the Greens did believe in fairies at the bottom of the garden, that was the absolute proof," she said.
"I do not know who Senator Brown has been talking to out in regional communities, but he has certainly not been talking to the majority of farmers.
"I can tell him the majority of farmers across this country do not want a carbon tax," she said.
"But, no, Senator Brown cannot possibly let reality get in the way of a good story.
"The Greens secured an 11.8 per cent primary vote in the House of Representatives and 13pc in the Senate - more than 85pc voted for a party other than the Greens.
"They claim some bizarre mandate, but that’s only because they’re in a cosy coalition with the Labor government.
"Regional communities are very worried that Greens have hijacked the Australian government’s agenda and what lies ahead," Senator Nash said.
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