Highwater mark for the Greens, all downhill from now on

[Jovial Monk]

http://www.afr.com/p/opinion/why_labor_ ... R2Q798wnhP

Why Labor can take heart from Melbourne
PUBLISHED: 16 HOURS 19 MINUTES AGO | UPDATE: 16 HOURS 4 MINUTES AGO
JOHN THWAITES

The byelection result in Melbourne will have little influence on the next federal election, or even the next state election in Victoria.

However, it has achieved national prominence, coinciding with a typically subtle brand definition exercise by the NSW Labor Right, and tension between federal Labor and the Greens over asylum-seeker policy.

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First, the biggest winner is Victorian Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews. He had a lot to lose. There were plenty of factors running against him, with Labor’s so-called “brand” at a low ebb nationally. As it turned out, the byelection gave him a profile that is rarely available for opposition leaders 2½ years from an election.

He managed well the fallout from the spat between Labor and the Greens by making more measured criticisms of the Greens, focusing on their lack of financial responsibility and inability to make the hard decisions necessary for government.

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However, there is evidence from the Melbourne byelection that a focus on Labor’s core strengths and holding the Greens to account on how they are going to deliver their policies bears fruit. Labor campaigned strongly in Melbourne on education and the state government’s TAFE cuts. Most significantly, Andrews homed in on the Greens’ inability to govern, and lack of financial responsibility. The key issue that hurt the Greens in the last week was that their policy costings didn’t stack up and they didn’t think it mattered.

Looking good! If Labor win Frankston, held by a Lib since the last election then Faillieu is on a knife edge.