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Australian Greens Party Leader backs PM to form minority gov'tCANBERRA, Aug 26, 2010 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Australian Greens party leader Bob Brown said on Friday that he has held constructive talks with Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her deputy Wayne Swan, about Labor Party forming a minority government. Senator Brown did not want to disclose details of the meeting, held at Parliament House in Canberra on Friday morning, but said it had been positive. "We are looking at what assurances there would need to be to give stable government for the future of this country," Brown told reporters, adding "there is progress afoot there." At a press conference, Gillard said the Labor Party had "very constructive meetings with Senator Brown." While no formal deal had come from the latest talks with Gillard, Swan and newly-elected Greens Member of Parliament Adam Bandt, Senator Brown said his party was "working" to see a Labor, not coalition government formed. "If you look at the policy platforms, you can see ... we run into the difficulty of (Coalition Leader) Tony Abbott saying there will never be a carbon price," Senator Brown said, adding that the Greens' door was always open to discuss the matter further. The Greens called on Abbott to commit to a three-year term of government no matter who was prime minister, and rule out the possibility of a second, early election. The Greens leader also asked Abbott to promise that the coalition would not block a Labor government's budget bills in the Senate. Both Parties have begun negotiation with the three independents who hold balance of power in Parliament. Three independents in talks over minority government on Wednesday released a list of seven demands to secure their support. The list included access to the latest Treasury advice on election promise costings and the economic outlook for Australia. The independents also want changes to political donations, electoral funding, and truth in advertising reforms. |